Stores plan old-style holiday
New York — Stores are turning back the clock, conjuring images of hearth and home as they stock their holiday merchandise.
Retailers hope embracing holiday traditions from cozier times will tempt recession-weary consumers to open their wallets in a season expected to show flat sales at best.
That means shoppers will see more gingerbread houses and peppermint crunch cookies and fewer exotic teas and flavored olive oils. There will be classic ball ornaments instead of offbeat cowboys or cartoon-themed character figures. An emphasis on simple festive wear such as shimmery tops will replace elaborately beaded gowns.
That’s a big departure from recent years when stores pushed the whimsical and splashy, from the upside-down Christmas tree fad in 2007 to stockings adorned with mermaids and elephants. Stores, wary after the sudden, deep drop in spending late last year, seek to tap into an American psyche that wants comfort and affordability after so many shocks.
Much is riding on the switch; holiday sales account for up to 40 percent of annual sales for many merchants. For retailers already hobbled, it could be a do-or-die season.
“When the world feels upside down, you don’t want your tree to be,” said Kit Yarrow, professor of consumer psychology at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. “Nostalgia is a way for people to feel safe.”
Last fall’s spending falloff came too late for the industry to overhaul its products in time for the holidays. Stores typically start planning for Christmas a year in advance. Starting in the depths of the meltdown, stores ditched their 2009 plans in favor of more comforting themes, which appear to be striking the right note for an economy that continues to lose jobs and that has only tentative patches of stabilization.
“The ability for consumers to buy is much worse than it was a year ago,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “It’s just not fashionable to spend a lot of money for Christmas, or for anything. It is fashionable to live within your means.”
HSN, the at-home television shopping network, already was starting to create an elaborate peacock-themed Christmas when the financial meltdown spurred it to scrap the designs in favor of an old-fashioned approach: tartan plaid on everything from throws to ornaments, and stockings adorned with classic icons such as angels and Santas.
“The peacock had stood out like a trend, but it wouldn’t have been the safe tradition,” said Chris Nicola, HSN’s vice president of merchandising, home design. “(This) is comfortable to look at. It’s familiar.”
