Trendsetting Christmas Lighting and Décor Every year in Milan, New York, London, and Paris the entire fashion industry gathers, watching runway models sashay down the catwalk flashing the newest trends and cutting edge styles. Every January in San Francisco, the trendsetters in the tech world, Apple, host their MacWorld Expo. 569 miles away in Las Vegas, nearly 200,000 people pack the Las Vegas Convention Center to see and toy with the newest gadgets at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show, the largest showcase of emerging technologies in the world. They gather in the tens of thousands for a variety of reasons: the need for spectacle or to catch the newest greatest thing, or to say they were there at the very dawn and threshold of a revolution in style, technology, and business. Every surfer knows that feeling of missing the perfect wave—watching it pass by, break, and dissolve into a foam along the shore. No successful business wants to let the moment pass unseized, feeling like a spectator rather than a trend-maker in the sea-change of life. We all want to be that graceful wave-rider powered by the tide of innovation. When it comes to trends in Christmas lighting and décor, one fact holds true. Businesses are spending billions of dollars every year to be on the cutting edge of designing Christmas destinations. Why do they do this? Because they know a simple mathematical formula. They know that Christmas Spirit+Unique Design and Destination=Retail Profit Gold. Businesses and retailers know that the weeks leading up to Christmas are showtime, and customers want to see and be seen at the best shows in town. So where do you go to find great ideas for creating destinations? Here are four places for fun and idea inspiration. 1. LA Snowstorm Look no further than The Grove, one of the largest malls in Los Angeles and our client, where every Christmas evening between 7 and 8 pm customers are treated to a snowstorm, a rare infusion of North Pole spirit into the warm California night. And, as if the snowstorm were not enough to bring crowds of spirited shoppers, The Grove also features one of the largest public Christmas Trees in Los Angeles. Build your Own Christmas Grove While you do not need a snowstorm extravaganza on par with the greatest Vegas spectacle, with a snowmaker or two, you can easily transform your mall, retail space, main street, public park, or shopping center into a snow powdered winter wonderland destined to draw customers and keep them coming back for more memories. 2. LA on Ice No, we are not talking about figure skating, the LA Kings, or the Anaheim Ducks, but our own Pershing Square. Here, every November and December, children, families and couples skate the Pershing Square ice rink in the shadow of LA’s tallest downtown skyscrapers. Think the Rockefeller Center Rink without the frostbite and with much better Mexican food within walking distance. Build or add pop to your own outdoor ice skating rink When it comes to skating rinks, the news is out and ice is in. Christmas is about more than shopping but sharing and enjoying the experience with loved ones. Ice Skating rinks are not only brilliant canvases for dazzling Christmas décor, but offer Southern Californians the rare opportunity to experience the Miracle of Ice. 3. Jungle to Winter Carnival Or how about the LA Zoo in late November or early December, where the tropical jungle morphs into a magical winter carnival of lights, lasers, 3D projections, giant floating snowflakes, and animated LED “monkeys” guiding guests through “only in Los Angeles displays.” And, if the kids want to visit real reindeer, this is the only place in town to do it. 4. Your Own Private Rodeo No, your own Christmas decorations and design do not need to match the LA Zoo for transformational drama, but a few ideas can easily turn a bah humbug space into the Miracle on 34th Street or your own private Rodeo Drive. If you are a posh boutique or fashion retailer, steal a cosmopolitan play from the Gucci flagship store playbook. Every Christmas, Rodeo Drive’s most iconic retailer transforms its smoked mirror and glass palace into a Christmas Taj Mahal of gold, green, and red light. Across the street, crystal chandeliers replace traditional street lamps, making this the classiest Christmas lighting destination south of the 70th parallel. Design your own Rodeo While it may be a guilty pleasure, there is a reason why people watch Downton Abbey or why billions of people watch the Oscars and the British Royal Wedding. We love high fashion, pomp, and glamor. We love the red carpet treatment. So it’s simple, give your customers the red carpet treatment when they walk into your shopping center. Turn those humdrum street lamps into gleaming chandeliers, and decorate those bare trees with brilliant light, so they shine brighter than South African gold, and glitter like white and blue Tiffany diamonds. The Final Formula for Design and Décor Success It is no coincidence that The Grove and the City of Beverly Hills call us every Christmas to help them create Christmas Design and Décor destinations. If you want to create your own fashionable destination, your own magical Christmas Commercial Lighting, Décor, and Design Mecca, you simply need to know what a growing list of clients already knows about our company. They know that when it comes to Christmas in the greater Los Angeles area, Brilliant Decor+Innovative Design=Mobile Illumination.