Commercial Decor Battles Bucks & Bulbs

By Joseph Dobrian, Contributing Editor
The need to keep spending down and the need to impress the public with their commitment to environmental responsibility, has led users of commercial Christmas décor to spend more on quality and less on quantity.
Recent economic issues have forced many commercial clients to make their basic displays last for another year, just tweaking them here and there to make small but noticeable changes. Thus, interesting new colors might play an important part in 2012, although the emphasis will remain on traditional reds and greens.

“The biggest concerns today are your budget and how long your trim will last,” Gary Huls, executive vice president at M. Lavine Design Workshop, notes. “This goes for lights, as well as other materials. Department stores, for instance, are more interested in LEDs because they’re concerned with providing maximum illumination without blowing fuses. However, the initial cost of LED is often a concern.”  
 
“Because of that cost, we’re getting more call for incandescent lights lately, whereas a year ago the orders were all for LED,” Kevin Maurer, display consultant at Bronner’s, remarks. “That’s a bit of a surprise, but our clients are trying to do what they can with a budget that hasn’t grown. As for colors, we notice that atriums and office buildings are more willing to experiment with chocolate brown, bronze, greens — and we can’t keep silver ornaments in stock. Chocolate brown is gaining popularity because so many other colors will go with it — and in those venues, there might be an effort to coordinate the holiday display with the flooring, or with the permanent art.”  
 
As for iconography, Maurer says, there’s little demand for human figures nowadays, but snowmen remain popular and penguins have caught on recently. Snow machines, which create simulated snow that dissipates before it hits the ground, are dependable crowd-pleasers — especially in regions where real snow is rare.
    
Thinking Green & Concerned About Greenbacks
Although some clients are ordering incandescent lights to cut expenses, vendors agree that LED has become the default, definitely dominating the market in 2011. LeeRoy Chaffin, vice president of sales and marketing at Dekra-Lite, explains that this is partly because so many commercial buildings now market themselves as “green” properties, so the use of energy-saving LEDs is good for their reputation as well as being more economical long-term. Today, he says, many municipalities and malls won’t consider any lighting other than LED. “They want to market the fact that they’re ecologically friendly,” Chaffin notes.

Another way clients will boost their civic reputations is by buying American, notes Jason Woodward, vice president of operations at CDI Enterprises. “‘Made in USA’ is hard to find,” he says, “but demand for it has emerged in the past few months. Commercial accounts and municipalities are pressured to stick to domestic product.”

Woodward also reports that he’s seen less shying away from nativity scenes — although there’ll often be a menorah alongside them. “We’re also doing very well with our giant trees, especially the Cascade fir,” he admits. “People want quality — three-dimensional cloth bows, for example, instead of vinyl — and they want advanced plug-and-play animation, with musical synchronization.”
 
The Commercial Look
Kent Fritzel, chief creative officer at American Christmas, notes that alongside the green movement is an increased demand for “natural” or earthy/artsy-craftsy-looking products, such as twine used as a surface cover for an ornament. “Felt is another popular textile,” he says, “and color palettes tend to be earthy: olive green, beige, brown. We also see a lot of recycling, such as using newspapers and corrugated cardboard to create shapes. That ties in with the craft idea.”

Fritzel believes that because of the economy, clients are going to want very clean, simple, earthy versions of what the holiday is – not flashy or precious. “People want the comfort of the holidays in an uncertain economy,” he reveals.
Fritzel says that in addition to LED lighting, greenery made with advanced injection mold technology is gaining importance. It’s significantly higher-priced than traditional PVC greenery, he warns, but it provides an authentic feel as well as a look. “Often, the solution is to use the less expensive materials in your second layer of greenery,” he advises. “Another challenge is that our clients love the look of natural wood, from aspen to firewood to twigs and it’s hard to come up with an artificial version of wood. Real wood is not good for commercial applications, because you can’t make wood non-flammable; you can’t import wood because of tariffs — and it has to be fumigated.”

According to Huls, some clients — particularly department and specialty stores — are cutting costs by using less decoration than in the past: focusing only on the entrance, window and main walkways instead of decorating the entire store. “They tend to channel their budget into larger presentations,” he says.

Interaction Reaction
Malls, meanwhile, need to create new interactive environments that are inviting to the customer, such as interactive games geared to the mall or venue where they appear, says Matthew Goodman, art director at Center Stage. “These could be low-tech, like wall-mounted puzzles, high-tech or a combination of the two,” he explains. “You might be able to play tic-tac-toe against Santa or feed the reindeer. We’re challenged to produce attractive programs, to come up with fun solutions even if they have to be edited to be made economically viable.”
Another trend, says Goodman, is for stores, malls and other venues to personalize their displays: creating, for instance, a Santaland that identifies with its place, instead of a generic Santaland. “Be careful where you place it,” he warns. “If you’re in a mall, don’t put a kids’ attraction near a chic, high-end jewelry store.”

Supply & Demand
Peter Barthelmess, owner of Barcana, says demand is high for large trees that are easy to set up and take down. He’ll be introducing a line of single-pole, self-shaping trees for indoor malls, mainly in the 18- to 20-foot range. Barcana will also offer wreaths as much as 14 feet across, and giant swags. “We also have energy-efficient lights specifically made for commercial use,” he reveals. “They have more copper, better husks, better lenses, so they produce a commercial-quality light and don’t need to be serviced. Just let us know in advance what you want. Your window of opportunity is January to June; after that, you’ll be stuck with what’s available.”

Late confirmations from clients are an industry-wide issue according to Fritzel. “Corporate America is thinking more about budgets, so the decision-making process takes longer, but people need to know that they can save dramatic amounts of money if only they’d confirm their designs and place their orders at the beginning of summer,” he asserts. “If you confirm and order late, you’ll be paying for overtime and express freight, among other things.”