holidays

Take-aways from last year’s healthy holiday season

Last holiday season was a bountiful one for retailers across the board, and this one is anticipated to be even more profitable if common pitfalls are avoided. The weather is finally cooling down, the leaves... more »

Look for holiday sales to increase this year

The National Retail Federation announced today that it expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion.... more »

Holiday spending to increase to $700 billion this year

The National Retail Federation announced that it expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion.... more »

Festive decoration trends introduced by Christmasworld

At Christmasworld, the international trade fair for festive and seasonal decoration held January 25-29 in Frankfurt am Main, four emotive styles that embody the range of festive decoration available will provide the retail trade with... more »

Easter spending expected to be second highest in NRF history

Easter spending is expected to total $18.2 billion this year, almost on par from a record $18.4 billion in 2017 but still the second-highest level on record, according to the annual survey released this week... more »

Greetings from Germany

Editor-in-Chief Julie McCallum and Allison McKenzie, Gift Shop’s multimedia designer, recently attended Christmasworld in Frankurt, Germany. It was an exciting opportunity to discover products and trends in Europe to share with retailers in the United... more »

Gift for Life Holiday Pop-Up Shop raises nearly $8,000

Gift for Life, the gift and home industries’ sole national charity, announced that a holiday pop-up shop created by the Retail Design Institute New York Chapter (RDI) raised nearly $8,000 for DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation... more »

Holiday shoppers still wrapping up holiday lists

Though millions of people got a jump-start on holiday shopping this year, millions more still have a lengthy list to finalize. According to the National Retail Federation’s final consumer holiday spending survey of the season,... more »