It's homey for the holidays

Retailers think consumers are tired of hearing about complex financial services regulations and complicated health-care reform, so they're simplifying holiday decorations this year.

Red and green.

Santa and snowmen.

Classics that harken back to a better time.

“It's the economy. People are not going to step outside and try something different,” said Jill Martinez, manager of Mangelsen's Christmas Traditions, the area in the hobby store dedicated to holiday decorations.

This conservative approach is just one strategy retailers are taking to the critical holiday shopping season, which can account for up to 40 percent of annual sales. Shoppers scared stingy last year continue to grapple with rising job losses, reduced hours or unavailable credit.

“I think they just want to make sure that what they buy is going to work,” Martinez said. “And I think it's a comfort thing, too. They're looking for something that is more comfortable and homey and traditional.”

Mangelsen's still displays more than 20 theme trees, but fewer will sport trendy color combinations like hot pink and lime green, or lime green and blue.

“We have not gone as different as we have sometimes in the past,” Martinez said. “They are much more traditional colors, the reds and the greens, golds, and silver.”

National retailers also are playing it safer this year.

Home Depot experimented with faddish purple and brown combinations for holiday decorations in the past but is returning this year to red, green and gold. And you won't find the upside-down Christmas trees that once caused a buzz.

Home shopping network HSN is moving away from holiday lawn décor such as inflatable Santas to interior decorations, including Nativity scenes.

The network also scrapped its original plans for an elaborate peacock-themed Christmas, opting instead for tartan plaid on everything from throws to ornaments. Angels and Santas adorn fireplace stockings.

The National Retail Federation's 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey showed that spending on nongift categories like decorations is expected to drop, from an average of $43.45 in 2008 to $40.75 this year.

Retailers hope adjusting to current consumer psychology boosts sales this year, because many were unable to adjust in time last year. Stores typically start planning for Christmas a year in advance, so last fall's economic crisis and the spending fall-off came too late for the industry to overhaul its products in time for the holidays.

Denise Willett, owner of House of J in the Montclair Shopping Center, said she first noticed the retail industry's adjustment to the new normal in January of this year, which was the first market for this holiday season.

“There wasn't a lot of newness when we went to the markets,” she said.

Willett still offers some of the whimsical décor popular in recent years — colors like lime green, for example — but she also stocked up on the classics of greens and reds as well as the safe trendy metallics like copper and burnished silver.

Early Christmas shoppers seem to be picking equal amounts from all those categories, she said.

She said she didn't reduce her inventory like some retailers, even though wholesalers offered fewer goods this year, she said.

“I wanted to be able to offer my customer the same as I did last year,” Willett said. “It just took a little more time and effort to do that. We had to search harder.”

Mangelsen's stocked about 25 percent fewer decorations, said Martinez. Although some people already are shopping, it's probably too soon to know if shoppers will spend money on decorations, she said.

But there are indications people want a good buy when they do spend.

“I have had a lot of people ask when . . . our sales are, when they can get a coupon,” she said.

Jenni Clark, gift-store buyer for Lanoha Nurseries, said the company cut its inventory by about 15 percent from last year, but the cuts don't mean less variety for customers. The store stocked the same variety of items, but a fewer number of each, she said.

Overall, she thinks that the store has a mix of modern and traditional items and that the “return to traditional” trend might be overstated.

Lanoha brought back some new items that sold well last year, such as a cordless line of lighted wreaths and garlands, Clark said. But it did not go out on a limb with faddish color combinations, sticking to muted warm tones of the classics.

“Nothing wild,” she said. “In an economy like this, people are sticking to something that is safe, something traditional, or something not too out-of-the-box. Something classic.”

Contact the writer:

444-1183, christine.laue@owh.com

This report contains material from the Associated Press.