There are holiday window displays … and then there are HOLIDAY WINDOW DISPLAYS.  You know exactly the ones I’m talking about.  The stores that start planning in mid-January what eye-popping exhibits they’re going to unveil to the masses … eleven months later.  Fashionable, upscale department stores are known for their elaborate displays … each more buzz-worthy than the last.

Take, for instance, Halls … an ultra high-end department store owned by parent company Hallmark.  (It just so happens I am Halls’ fun-tastic spokesman.)   Halls’ two stores are nestled in the middle of Kansas City’s swank Country Club Plaza and Crown Center.  This year, Hallmark is celebrating their one hundredth anniversary of making greeting cards for the masses.  So what did the visual merchandising experts at Halls do?  They turned vintage Hallmark Xmas cards into clothes, everything from ball gowns to cocktail dresses to shoes.  Even chandeliers and Xmas trees get the royal treatment.  (Get it?  Hallmark?  Gold crown?  Royal treament?)

It’s fun to watch people do double, triple, even quadruple takes when they realize they’re looking at old Xmas cards.  Each card has been cut, crimped or fringed within an inch of its recycled life.  All 40,000 of ‘em.  Workers who created the displays started putting the pieces together in June, four months earlier than usual.

Not only are the displays visually-stunning, they tell the story of the holidays … everything from Xmas Eve shenanigans to the obligatory New Years Day hangover.  Watch my recent feature story on the displays, and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  It’s a hoot.

http://www.kctv5.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4465943

This year Halls has really outdone themselves paying homage to its parent company’s 100^th anniversary.  Everyone in Kansas City is talking about it, which is certainly good buzz for any store right before the holidays.  If Santa’s elves were on Project Runway, this is how they’d “deck the Halls”.  (Heh.)  Try to wrap your brain around using 40,000 cards for a series of displays.  Lord, I can’t even get motivated to send one Xmas card this year.