The Bulletin: Aug. 29

Source: LIFE



• 8 great Labor Day weekend getaways (CNN) (Pictured)
• Christmas in August? Why families are celebrating (KBOI)
• Canadian members had it and U.S. members could lose it (IDA)
• Detroit: A Perfect Example of Main Street Culture (Main Street)
• Pret A Manger starts Christmas in August with carol tunes (New York Post)

 

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Waterbury, Connecticut

 

Downtown Decorations was approached by the city of Waterbury to transform their downtown fountain into a “winter fountain.” We designed and fabricated a custom animated fountain to give an eye-catching pop to the area. We started by taking precise measurements of the fountain itself as well as reviewing the drawings for the construction of the fountain. We then designed a custom horse collar bracket that would fit around the top of the fountain and be held in place with weights. The arms of the fountain connect to the collar using a compression sleeve with bolts, and attach to another bracket at the bottom of the fountain. We designed a custom lighting pattern using cool white and blue bulbs to mimic cascading water and added a custom animation controller to command the effects. For more on our commercial Christmas lights, click here. More photos after the jump.

Canandaigua, New York

 

Check out these photos of our banners and decorations in beautiful downtown Canandaigua. The city of just over 10,000 people is located on the northern end of Canandaigua Lake, the fourth largest of the Finger Lakes, and the hometown of Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman. Each year, the city holds a large Christmas outing, urging residents to support local retailers during the holidays. Downtown Decorations supplies the merchants association with banners, banner enhancers, pole apps and lights for the big celebration. More photos after the jump.

Notes from the VP: Christmas Creep and August Creep

I feel like as soon as fall hits, the conversation turns to Christmas Creep, and by default, Halloween Creep. This is the phenomenon in which every year retailers roll out Christmas ads and merchandise a few days earlier and earlier, Christmas parties start spilling into November, and Santa Claus is out before Thanksgiving. All that being said, there is another disturbing trend that’s happening that is near and dear to my heart -- August Creep.

I’m a beach fanatic and a chaser of the Endless Summer -- ironic for a guy in my line of work. I’ve started to notice fall creeping into August more and more. Preseason football is on, and people are talking about apple picking and pumpkin beer. Summer is a precious gift and we’re killing it far too soon.

Recently, the following article on the subject came out in the WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/19C16Gd. It’s great reading for any lover of summer.

We’ve got 10 days left before the unofficial start of football, cider, and pumpkins. Have you summered properly?

Garrett Peterson
Vice President
Downtown Decorations, Inc.
 

Wegmans

 

Are you one of the thousands of self-described Wegmans groupies? We are! We like Wegmans so much that we provide holiday décor for one-quarter of all Wegmans stores. Each year, we adorn the facades of the stores with large 8 ft. and 12 ft. LED lit wreaths that feature 6 ft. bows and a variety of ornaments. Shoppers in the Rochester, Binghamton, Ithaca, and Buffalo areas can look forward to seeing our decorations in a few months. For now, check out some pictures from an install we did last year at the Johnson City location.

 

 

 

 

Made in America

Downtown Decorations, Inc. is proud to announce that a majority of our goods are now being made in America. We believe that by keeping these manufacturing jobs here, we can help the American economy grow and create opportunities for future generations. We also think it is important to support safe working conditions, child labor laws, minimum wage restriction and product safety standards.

We believe that the quality of our American-made items are exponentially better than their foreign counterparts. Some of the items that we make here in America include garlands, which are traditionally made in Asia, and trees, which most décor companies import from overseas. Currently, the following items are made right here in America:

·         Cascade Wreaths

·         80% of garlands, including pine branch, colored, and specialty

·         50% of bows are now domestically produced

·         All banners

·         Adirondack pine trees

·         All pole decorations

 

Right now, we work with manufacturers located in Vermont, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, California and New York.

 



In addition to higher quality products, domestic manufacturing helps to reduce the carbon footprint. We no longer have to ship the products from halfway around the world, which reduces the need for fossil fuels to transport them.

Having our goods produced in America also makes it easier for our customers. Items can be made on demand, which reduces and nearly eliminates running out of stock when critical last minute orders are placed.

We can also control the quality of the product. We can ensure that only the highest quality materials and methods are being used to produce our goods. For example, the garlands we make here in America are superior to ones made in China for the following reasons:

·         The film used to spin the garland is a heavier weight in thickness as well as from a higher quality film. This reduces fading and makes them more crush resistant.

·         The center core wire is domestically produced as well and spun thicker for durability. We also used galvanized wire throughout to nearly eliminate potential rusting in high-use winter environments.

·         Since garland is spun on demand, we can customize it for our customers. This includes colors, tip counts, sizes, and shapes. If a customer wants purple and silver garland, we can just dial the machine in and spin away.

  

 

Downtown Decorations, Inc. is committed to manufacturing our products in America. It is exciting for us to join the ranks of businesses that are buying and selling American, and put our dollar back into our economy.

 

Notes from the VP: Finding inspiration in everyday objects

 

When designing Christmas décor, we try to take movement and elements from everyday objects that we see around us. Our custom work ideas can come from anything we see, and we try and keep our eyes peeled for inspiration. One of these items has been the chandelier. Very simple and almost common, it lends itself perfectly to overhead décor or even to ground décor. We, of course, put our own holiday spin on it but the shape and form remain the same.

Garrett Peterson
Vice President
Downtown Decorations, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

 

Take a look at these stunning photos of a project we did in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The client wanted a more modern and unique take on Christmas decorations so we created a grand illuminated sculpture. The “tree” is 14 ft. tall. To learn more about our sphere trees, click here. More photos after the jump.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

 

For the third year in a row, Downtown Decorations will be installing complete décor packages in four malls in Guayaquil, Ecuador! The city of Guayaquil is the largest and most populous in Ecuador, with around 3.75 million living in the metropolitan area. We are extremely excited about this project and began shipping products to the malls this week. If you happen to be in Guayaquil this holiday season, be sure to stop by any of the malls – Entrerios, Norte, Sur or Ceibos – to see our décor. And if you can’t make it to Guayaquil, check out some photos of this year's pre-production and last year’s finished displays after the jump.