I love the holidays. I love Christmas. I love all the things that go into it – the music, the impromptu gatherings, the spirit and most of all, the decorations! So, when Big Lots reached out to me in the summer, asking if I wanted to be a part of their holiday campaign – it was a no brainer. YES, of course I did! What could be better than having an excuse (#itswork) to start decorating for the holidays in September/October? Nothing. The answer is nothing.
This blog post is a paid partnership with Big Lots for the Ho Ho Whoa Campaign. All thoughts, pictures, and opinions are my own.
To kick-off the campaign, we were invited to the Big Lots HQ in New Albany, OH. As soon as we walked in, we were met by “snow” falling from the ceiling. That was just the beginning. They had an entire room decked out with trees, snacks, hot items of the season, penguins from the Columbus Zoo and MORE! #spoiled
Here are a few pictures from our afternoon at the Big Lots HQ.
We had the best day learning all about Big Lots, the upcoming holiday decor, ideas for gifts and shopping for a local charity.
One of my favorite parts of the day was hearing from the design team. They have the coolest (and hardest) job! It was really interesting to hear everything that goes into picking the right holiday themes. Let me tell you, there is A TON that goes into it. I mean, they’re already doing all the research for NEXT years holiday trends! We sure are lucky that they take all the hard work out of making our houses look beautiful for the holidays.
Recently, I was able to connect with Trend Manager Kara, or Big Lots designer elves as I’ve nicknamed them, to get a bit more info on how they do what they do. She has been with Big Lots for 7 years and she, along side of an incredible team, are responsible for creating and delivering all of Big Lots company trend, working with their sourcing and buying teams internally to develop those trends into product for the right season.
We weren’t able to connect in person, as she is busy in Santa’s workshop, designing away. Luckily, she was able to step away and answer a few questions via email.
What are the four trends of this year’s holiday? Who do they appeal to?
For 2019 we have Holiday Cottage which is meant for our core customer who loves the traditional with a touch of rustic holiday décor. Popped with a black and white buffalo check pattern and cute dog icons which are very on trend for the Holiday season.
Elegant Wonder is our glamourous trend for the sparkly consumer. Featuring silver and gold colors with sequins, pearls, and all things glittery.
Starry Night which features beautiful navy blue and slate blue colors with a little feeling of glam and pops of silver and gold. Appealing to someone who digs a little sophistication with an unexpected colorway for holiday décor.
Tinsel Town is a fun, bright and whimsical trend that appeals to the untraditional holiday décor lover. Featuring cute car and vintage camper icons and whimsical sayings.
Is there a holiday trend you just can’t get on board with? I’m trying to think of something that is consistently popular? Maybe tinsel? It just feels like a mess to me!
I agree string tinsel is a mess! Fortunately, we don’t really get into that product. But I really love Christmas and all the decorating that goes into it. Every year I love injecting newness with color into our Big Lots trends.
Where do you find inspiration? Do you have a routine or method on how you buy/start the process?
We find inspiration everywhere—research is compiled from several places. Online- we use several resources that we have built and validated over the years, all different kinds of stores in the US market, we travel domestically and internationally, and our external specialized trend partners offer amazing online subscriptions at our fingertips.
I think you mentioned you have already started looking at the trends for the 2020 holiday season? How far in advance do you start the process of planning and buying for the holiday season?
We started the Holiday 2020 season in May of this year- 2019. We work internally with a trend committee team made up of leaders from each area of the business to determine the trends we are going to buy to and then the merchant teams start looking at artwork in October for the next holiday season. We will buy all the product for Holiday 2020 in January.
What do you find the most interesting about your job because I find it all quite interesting. I loved hearing about the process and all that goes into it. I had no idea.
I love researching the cultural trends at that time, leveraging our knowledge of what we know works for our customer through all the data we collect, and then meshing the two together to create something truly unique and special. We need to be relevant always, but also provide something truly special at a good value AND do something different each year. It is interesting and also very exciting to see an idea turn into flat artwork and then a 3D product, and then see it in customers’ homes! A very long process, but so cool to see the final use.
How exciting is it to know that you have helped decorate so many households and brought so much joy to people with your trends, helping to create such beautiful memories! You girls are sort of like little Designer Elves. 😛 That is so awesome!
I love that title!! Ha! It is so fun, and definitely one of the reasons I love my job. When we are creating trends on paper it’s easy to forget that eventually these little pictures will help inspire the maker and the buyer and then end up on our shelves in store and then ultimately in someone’s house! It is pretty awesome when we sit back and think about it. I love seeing the end product and even more than that, we love the joy it can bring! Even better if a memory is made or photos are taken with the décor as the backdrop, that’s as good as it gets for us!
I have to know, is your house decorated all year round for the holidays?! One specific room? A Christmas bathroom?
HA! No! Actually, every year I almost don’t decorate for Christmas because by the time December rolls around I am kind of over the thought. I always think if only Christmas would fall in June, I would be SO ready. In the end I do decorate the whole house—not the bathroom 😉 and I love it— there’s just something so special about your home being decorated for the Holidays. Then I hate taking it down!
Last question. Black Friday – Love It or Hate It?
I secretly hate it (as a consumer) but working in retail I don’t think I’m allowed to say that! ☺I used to love it when it was actually FRIDAY- not “Black week” or “Black November”. It takes away from the special day and hype. I have learned to like it more in more recent years and go out on Thursday night/early into Friday morning just to see what’s going on.
Oh, now last question – anything else you want to add? Any design tips for the holidays?
I have always advised people to layer, layer, layer and don’t be afraid to try something new. Scale is so important whether you are decorating a beautiful tablescape for your dinner, the mantel or the tree. Mix larger pieces with smaller pieces and inject things that provide texture.
Huge thank you to Kara for taking the time to answer my questions! When I walk into Big Lots, I am in awe of all of their holiday decor. It is so well organized and they literally have everything – very easy to shop. I usually go with a random holiday theme, but this year I focused on one theme and I LOVE IT. I went with the holiday cottage. I was able to get everything from tree decor to rugs to kitchen towels all in the same theme. Keep an eye out for a future blog post sharing all of that + how I plan to decorate with three toddlers running around.
