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Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Sally Reed Creveling, manager at GiGi’s in Vestavia Hills, ties a bow on a fall shirts on the girls clothing rack. The owner of the store said she’s planning for a strong holiday shopping season.
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Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Jennifer Manary, assistant manager at The Lili Pad in Vestavia Hills, looks through the collegiate sales rack for kids. The Lili Pad sells children's clothing, toys and accessories.
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At The Lili Pad in Cahaba Heights, they’ve been making bows for Christmas gift wrapping since June, owner Katherine McRee said. The children’s store is expecting a great November and December.
“We buy a year out, and we have purchased for it to be an extremely, extremely positive holiday season,” said McRee, who opened The Lili Pad with her sister, Susan Day, in 2004.
City leaders say they’re expecting a strong holiday shopping season as well, despite inflationary pressures, but this year’s election could have an impact on people’s shopping decisions.
McRee and her team have been prepping to maximize sales. They’re planning pop-up holiday events geared toward the different age groups represented in the store. They’ll also be open for Deck the Heights, an event highlighting merchants at Heights Village on Nov. 16, and will bring in a silhouette artist at the beginning of December.
Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Jennifer Manary, assistant manager at The Lili Pad in Vestavia Hills, looks through the collegiate sales rack for kids. The Lili Pad sells children's clothing, toys and accessories.
“Those are great for grandparent gifts,” McRee said.
At GiGi’s, the tween side of the business, they will have parties to “get the girls ready for holiday parties or school parties, so we bring in merchandise geared toward that,” she said. Also, she said the “amount of matching Christmas pajamas we sell is insane.”
McRee said The Lili Pad and Gigi’s are planning for their holiday sales to be strong. Black Friday and the rest of that weekend are “humongous,” and they plan to open on Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas to give people extra shopping time.
“We’re having to pack it in — since Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 28, the shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are shorter this year,” McRee said.
Carol Jones, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Alabama, said that reality is one factor that may affect Christmas shopping across the board this year.
“People will be shopping earlier to have more time to try and find those good deals,” said Jones, who researches retailing and retail strategy.
But shoppers may also be feeling more stressed about having less time, so “retailers are going to have to make shopping fun to get consumers into the holiday spirit,” she said. “Retailers are going to have to figure out how to win the consumer’s internal battle of saving vs. spending.”
That internal battle may stem from economic factors, Jones said. In general, people are more concerned about money right now, with the majority of Americans — about 77% — having a negative or neutral outlook about the economy, she said.
“This is going to impact the average person’s shopping experience. Shopping is less fun when you’re more concerned about money, the economy, politics, etc.,” Jones said.
The presidential election could impact spending, she said, noting that there “was a dip in spending before and after the 2020 election.”
She said she expects there could be some effects surrounding the election this year, too.
“Depending upon the election results and Americans’ response to it, we could see some fluctuations with the economy that impact Christmas spending,” Jones said.
But on the flip side, “with it being a difficult year for many, people may use retail therapy as a pick-me-up to end the year,” she said.
Holiday shopping can somewhat be predicted by back-to-school and back-to-college shopping, Jones said. Last year was a big year for retail spending, but so far, 2024 isn’t trending that direction, she said.
“This year, we spent less than we did in 2023 going back to school, so the growth might be smaller this year than it was last year,” Jones said. “We will still see more spending than we saw in 2021 and 2022, but there’s a chance spending grows less than it did for 2023 Christmas — and there’s a good chance we actually spend less than we did in 2023.”
Even so, she said some outlets are still predicting a record year for spending, as holiday spending has generally been increasing the past few years.
“I’ve heard a lot more people express financial concerns, so I have my doubts it will be a record-breaking year, but we know consumers are unpredictable, so I’m not saying it’s impossible,” Jones said. “It’s bizarre that one source will recognize consumer spending is tighter right now but still predict a 2 to 4% growth in holiday spending this year over 2024.”
She said she’s not sure of the reason for their optimism, especially since seasonal hiring is expected to be lower this year than last year.
“So if we do have record spending this year but less retail employees — and a shorter holiday season — it’s fixing to get wild,” Jones said.
McRee said at The Lili Pad she’s bucking that trend and staffing for a big Christmas. She’s already hired “extra little elves” to help with wrapping, and she plans to stay on top of the hot items so that they have plenty of inventory.
“When you’re a family business, there’s loyalty — everyone is familiar, and we have fun together,” McRee said.
She said she’s known some of her employees since their moms first brought them into the store in strollers.
As far as the economy goes, McRee said she’s learned over the years “not to live in fear but to keep pushing forward.”
She encourages Vestavia residents to explore their local businesses and support them this holiday season and “see all the city has to offer.”
“There’s a lot of shopping to be had in the city,” McRee said. “I really feel the momentum that the city and all the local businesses have is extremely good to move us into the next era. Everything happening in the city is amazing.”
Michelle Hawkins, the president and CEO of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, said she believes Christmas shopping in Vestavia Hills “will be festive, and the community support will reflect a joyful and engaging experience.”
Cinnamon McCulley, Vestavia Hills’ assistant city manager, said she’s expecting good things for the city’s retailers this holiday season.
“Despite inflationary pressures nationwide, we have seen growth in sales tax receipts for the last few years,” McCulley said. “The most recent Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast predicts a 2.3 to 3.3% increase in holiday retail sales.”
According to Deloitte, an international firm that provides financial advisory, auditing and other services, holiday sales are expected to total $1.58 trillion to $1.59 trillion between November and January. Last year, holiday sales grew by 4.3% in that period.
Jones said Alabamians spend less money than people in most other states during the holidays, but Alabamians have a better cost of living, and that makes the dollars that they do spend go further.
“So those overall numbers will be different with Alabama spending less than the average American, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t buying what we really want,” she said.
McCulley said she’s optimistic about how that will play out in Vestavia because of what the city has to offer shoppers. “With the unique shopping opportunities available in Vestavia Hills, I anticipate our retail sales will remain strong this holiday season,” she said.
