This year, Hanukkah starts early. The Jewish holiday begins on December 8 and runs until the 16. That means that this week is crunch time for late Hanukkah shoppers, and stores can capitalize on this by offering the best gifts for the week-long festival.
A Hanukkah display
To let shoppers know that you have their Hanukkah gifts covered, why not create a fun display celebrating the holiday? Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights, so be sure to use plenty of white and blue string lights in your windows. You can utilize these to highlight some of the items you are hoping shoppers will pick up this season. Be sure to place a few dreidels and chocolate gold coins around to accentuate some of the motifs of this holiday.
In your store, you can use lights to highlight some of your Hanukkah display cases. Drape the lights around the edges of your display tables or weave them in your wall displays to dazzle your shoppers.
How to highlight the gifts
Unlike Christmas, Hanukkah takes place over the course of eight nights, and it's not uncommon for celebrants to exchange gifts every evening throughout the course of the holiday. Often, shoppers will start with smaller gifts, building in size and value as the eight days proceed. You can reflect this in your store layout. Place smaller items that are good for the first days of the holiday toward the front of your store near the cash register, while showcasing your big ticket items closer to the rear. Or you can reverse it if you want your larger products to be the first thing shoppers notice.
Go holiday-neutral
If you want to attract both Christmas and Hanukkah shoppers with your window display, then you can go for a holiday-neutral theme. Instead of a Christmas or Hanukkah motif, go with something that's simply wintry. You can use cotton or fake snow to create a winter scene, and dress up adult and child mannequins in cozy sweaters, winter jackets or hats, scarves and mittens.
Alternatively, you can showcase both holidays simultaneously. This is easy for retailers who have a large store window, but if not, consider making your front display neutral and then dividing your store's interior decorations between the two holidays.
