A small giftshop in Flatbush, Brooklyn, has unveiled a budget-friendly holiday window inspired by this year’s New York holiday window displays. The window at Brooklyn Artery in Ditmas Park was designed and created in one day and at a cost of just $347, with the help of marketing services provider, Vistaprint and a team of art and design students.
Vistaprint recently surveyed the country’s small shopkeepers about their holiday marketing and found that the average amount spent decorating their storefront windows is $347, with over 20% spending $100 or less. Meanwhile, America’s largest stores and retailers are revealing their latest budget-busting holiday windows, capturing the attention of the nation and, for many, officially kicking off the holiday shopping season. Vistaprint decided to help Brooklyn Artery, one of its customers, to create a big-business display on a small-business budget, with the goal of driving increased traffic to the store.
The survey also confirmed that the holiday season is a particularly crucial time for small businesses. Over one-quarter (29%) say that the survival of their business depends on holiday sales. A further 40% say that a bad holiday season will see them struggle over the next 12 months. Yet despite this, they are only able to spend an average of $560 on marketing their business during the period and 55% state that they struggle to compete with large retailers.
Sarah Nunes, Director of Brand Management at Vistaprint says: “The launch of big retailers’ holiday windows is an iconic and well-loved tradition, but it’s important to remember our hardworking small business owners at this time. We want to help them share the limelight and encourage more people across the country to shop small during the holiday season.
“Small businesses struggle to compete with larger retailers when it comes to their holiday marketing, and decorating their storefronts is no exception,” Nunes continued. “Business owners told us that lack of ideas, budget and time are their most frequent barriers. We wanted to level the playing field, and show there are a lot of great, creative things small business owners can do to make their storefronts standout.”
Jocelyn Kirouac, who co-owns Brooklyn Artery with her business partner Susan Siegel, adds: “We are so thrilled with our new holiday window. I was hugely impressed by the art students’ creativity with a small business budget. The whole exercise helped me rethink what’s possible when marketing our business during the most important season.
“We are a small business ourselves, but the products we stock, from handbags and jewelry to artisanal food and home decor, are all sourced from other independent makers,” said Kirouac. “Our mission is to inspire people to buy handmade merchandise and to support working artists, so we were delighted to have this talented team of local students lend their creativity to our storefront.”
As part of Vistaprint’s wider support for small businesses during the holiday season, the company also partnered with an expert retail designer, Sally Dailey, to create a guide to decorating holiday storefronts on a budget.