It is December and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well, the sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow… So you probably know the lyrics, but my point is I have noticed something different this year and I hope you have too.
It definitely is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the neighborhoods that I drive through, in the shops and malls of the area and in the orders being seen by Nashville Wraps, which tell us that Christmas is alive and well. We even had snow flurries this weekend in Middle Tennessee.
I have noticed lots of Christmas decorations and outdoor lights this year as well. It almost seems that every other house has something. It makes me want a day above 50 degrees again so I can get on my motorcycle and go sightseeing. I digress so quickly…
In the retail sector we are seeing an influx of orders that started the week of Thanksgiving and is still building. I have said many times that Nashville Wraps is a good barometer of small and medium business USA, and we are seeing about a 15% increase over 2009. But why? Lots of reasons….
People who survived Christmas in 2008 and 2009 have seen a gradual increase in consumer spending. In 2009 consumers were pent up with being repressed/depressed due to the economy. In 2010 they have been frugal throughout the year and are releasing more of their shopping withdrawal this season.
In 2009 we were all pelted with all sorts of meanies before the holidays: job losses, swine flue, and the news in general. The new normal lifestyles have also had an affect, but while the news in 2010 isn’t great relative to the economy, these haven’t been good enough reasons not to get out and shop this year. Thankfully we are still in charge of our own destinies, attitudes, and finances to a degree. It is certainly our choice about whether and what we want to give to make someone happy this year. Americans are a giving people and we want to give a spark of love and happiness this year regardless of how depressing the first 11 months were. So to the streets we go.
Online shopping is of course on the increase, but still for Christmas there is nothing that replaces the experience of being out in the weather, searching for parking, and being with other people shopping in a vast variety of shops. I am old fashioned, but there is something sacrificial about me going out to select that perfect gift rather than searching only at online outlets. I think that has some impact on what we are seeing today.
For whatever the reason, I am happy to see it, and I know that many Nashville Wraps’ customers are too. So to you I say Merry Christmas and God Bless America, and if that is politically incorrect then so be it.
Robby Meadows
Director of Marketing
Nashville Wraps
