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Yule businesses dreaming of a green Christmas
By Peter Jones
How does an entrepreneur survive the cold winters of an economic downturn when his entire business is built around one December holiday largely tied to retail sales?
Many businesses are counting down the 30 or so shopping days until Christmas, but some do so with more make-or-break determination than others.
Retailers take in as much as 40 percent of their total annual sales during the holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Foundation. But few rely on Christmas as heavily as St. Nick’s stores in Littleton and Park Meadows in Lone Tree.
The year-round Christmas-themed retailer turns about 80 percent of its annual profits between Halloween and Dec. 25, and most of that cash-register jingle happens during the 30-day countdown to Christmas.
St. Nick’s trades in everything from Christmas ornaments and mistletoe to Christmas music, yard decorations and 200 different varieties of nativity scenes. The store carries wreaths ranging in size from 12 inches to 12 feet. No other local retailer is as explicitly tied to one day of the year as is St. Nick’s.
“We’re so tradition-driven. People bring their children in, and then they bring their children in,” said Shawn Sealy, whose family has owned St. Nick’s for 34 Christmases. “That’s the best part about this business, being able to be a part of these families and traditions.”
Part of the St Nick’s tradition is ramping up the staff pre-Christmas. When the shopping season gets underway, St. Nick’s jumps from about 15 workers to more than 60 employees at its two south-metro stores.
Although St. Nick’s closes down for about six weeks starting in mid-January every year, the stores are essentially year-round enterprises for consumers who dream of white Christmases, even on the Fourth of July.
“We definitely slow down in April and May,” Sealy said. “But our June and July have been pretty good because we’re such a tourist destination at this point.”
About 60 to 80 customers walk into St. Nick’s on a typical summer day, he said.
The two stores host an annual Christmas in July sale to help steer foot traffic during shorts-and-sandals season. But contrary to popular assumption, St Nick’s prices do not fluctuate much during the spring and summer.
“We just try to keep our margins down altogether to try to help sales throughout the year rather than put it on sale and play that whole game,” Sealy said.
The stores do, however, host post-Christmas sales, along with the rest of the retail community.
Although St. Nick’s has little in the way of direct competition — Reinke Bros. owns Halloween a few blocks away — other businesses, from Christmas tree sellers to Rent-a-Santa companies, also depend on the weeks preceding the winter solstice.
But unlike St. Nick’s year-round schedule, most Christmas entrepreneurs rely on other sources of income during the other 10 to 11 months of the year.
Come Back Santa, a new local company that specializes in returning children’s letters to Santa Claus, was started by two sisters who wanted a source of income that would allow them more time at home with their children during the holidays.
Gretchen Piper, a Parker hairstylist and interior designer, and Erika Keller, a California-based full-time mother and student, thought the concept would be a great way to supplement their income while serving a niche market — parents who save everything.
“They did a whole bunch of research that found a lot of Web sites where you can get a letter from Santa, but you can never get the original letter back,” said Kimberle Rupert, the sisters’ mother, a Highlands Ranch-based marketing professional who has partnered with her daughters on the project.
The U.S. Postal Service receives millions of letters to Santa every year — most of which are eventually, and unceremoniously, destroyed. For many, especially those who have watched “Miracle on 34th Street,” that image is akin to a stocking full of coal or a Scrooge without a post-Christmas Eve redemption.
“There is a specific market of parents who take that original letter, have the kid put it in the envelope, watch the child drop it in the post office box with that sweet little face and say goodbye to that letter,” Rupert said.
And now they get the letter back for the scrapbook.
Rupert, born Dec. 25, realized firsthand the value of keeping letters to Santa. After her mother died, she discovered her own letter to St. Nick, written at age 9, tucked in a family Bible
“It was so cool,” the grandmother said. “Look at how I wrote. Look at what I wanted. It was kind of a neat little moment.”
For $6.25, letters are returned. For an additional $6, Come Back Santa will laminate them. For more information, visit comebacksanta.com.
The only suspension of disbelief in the Come Back Santa buiness model: Letters must be addressed, not to the North Pole, but to a post office box in Evergreen.
“The elves that are helping Santa have brought Santa into the age of technology,” Rupert said, explaining the organization’s back story. “What they’re doing is picking up these letters and scanning them for Santa. The kids know Santa is now in the 21st century.”
The two sisters are considering ways to potentially turn Come Back Santa into a year-round business.
For an additional fee, kids may in the future, for example, receive letters from Santa throughout the year — including thank-you notes, encouragements to be good mid-year and reminders to send their next want lists.
Other possibilities may be as controversial as they are inventive.
“Nobody writes to the Easter Bunny, but it’s amazing how many people write to God,” Rupert said. “So there are other avenues they’re looking at if this is successful. The idea came from a guy at the post office who said, ‘We got a letter from God. What do we do with it?’ So who knows?”
Many businesses are counting down the 30 or so shopping days until Christmas, but some do so with more make-or-break determination than others.
Retailers take in as much as 40 percent of their total annual sales during the holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Foundation. But few rely on Christmas as heavily as St. Nick’s stores in Littleton and Park Meadows in Lone Tree.
The year-round Christmas-themed retailer turns about 80 percent of its annual profits between Halloween and Dec. 25, and most of that cash-register jingle happens during the 30-day countdown to Christmas.
St. Nick’s trades in everything from Christmas ornaments and mistletoe to Christmas music, yard decorations and 200 different varieties of nativity scenes. The store carries wreaths ranging in size from 12 inches to 12 feet. No other local retailer is as explicitly tied to one day of the year as is St. Nick’s.
“We’re so tradition-driven. People bring their children in, and then they bring their children in,” said Shawn Sealy, whose family has owned St. Nick’s for 34 Christmases. “That’s the best part about this business, being able to be a part of these families and traditions.”
Part of the St Nick’s tradition is ramping up the staff pre-Christmas. When the shopping season gets underway, St. Nick’s jumps from about 15 workers to more than 60 employees at its two south-metro stores.
Although St. Nick’s closes down for about six weeks starting in mid-January every year, the stores are essentially year-round enterprises for consumers who dream of white Christmases, even on the Fourth of July.
“We definitely slow down in April and May,” Sealy said. “But our June and July have been pretty good because we’re such a tourist destination at this point.”
About 60 to 80 customers walk into St. Nick’s on a typical summer day, he said.
The two stores host an annual Christmas in July sale to help steer foot traffic during shorts-and-sandals season. But contrary to popular assumption, St Nick’s prices do not fluctuate much during the spring and summer.
“We just try to keep our margins down altogether to try to help sales throughout the year rather than put it on sale and play that whole game,” Sealy said.
The stores do, however, host post-Christmas sales, along with the rest of the retail community.
Although St. Nick’s has little in the way of direct competition — Reinke Bros. owns Halloween a few blocks away — other businesses, from Christmas tree sellers to Rent-a-Santa companies, also depend on the weeks preceding the winter solstice.
But unlike St. Nick’s year-round schedule, most Christmas entrepreneurs rely on other sources of income during the other 10 to 11 months of the year.
Come Back Santa, a new local company that specializes in returning children’s letters to Santa Claus, was started by two sisters who wanted a source of income that would allow them more time at home with their children during the holidays.
Gretchen Piper, a Parker hairstylist and interior designer, and Erika Keller, a California-based full-time mother and student, thought the concept would be a great way to supplement their income while serving a niche market — parents who save everything.
“They did a whole bunch of research that found a lot of Web sites where you can get a letter from Santa, but you can never get the original letter back,” said Kimberle Rupert, the sisters’ mother, a Highlands Ranch-based marketing professional who has partnered with her daughters on the project.
The U.S. Postal Service receives millions of letters to Santa every year — most of which are eventually, and unceremoniously, destroyed. For many, especially those who have watched “Miracle on 34th Street,” that image is akin to a stocking full of coal or a Scrooge without a post-Christmas Eve redemption.
“There is a specific market of parents who take that original letter, have the kid put it in the envelope, watch the child drop it in the post office box with that sweet little face and say goodbye to that letter,” Rupert said.
And now they get the letter back for the scrapbook.
Rupert, born Dec. 25, realized firsthand the value of keeping letters to Santa. After her mother died, she discovered her own letter to St. Nick, written at age 9, tucked in a family Bible
“It was so cool,” the grandmother said. “Look at how I wrote. Look at what I wanted. It was kind of a neat little moment.”
For $6.25, letters are returned. For an additional $6, Come Back Santa will laminate them. For more information, visit comebacksanta.com.
The only suspension of disbelief in the Come Back Santa buiness model: Letters must be addressed, not to the North Pole, but to a post office box in Evergreen.
“The elves that are helping Santa have brought Santa into the age of technology,” Rupert said, explaining the organization’s back story. “What they’re doing is picking up these letters and scanning them for Santa. The kids know Santa is now in the 21st century.”
The two sisters are considering ways to potentially turn Come Back Santa into a year-round business.
For an additional fee, kids may in the future, for example, receive letters from Santa throughout the year — including thank-you notes, encouragements to be good mid-year and reminders to send their next want lists.
Other possibilities may be as controversial as they are inventive.
“Nobody writes to the Easter Bunny, but it’s amazing how many people write to God,” Rupert said. “So there are other avenues they’re looking at if this is successful. The idea came from a guy at the post office who said, ‘We got a letter from God. What do we do with it?’ So who knows?”
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