This year, we worked SO hard to create festive retail windows inspired by our new holiday illustrations by Lulu DuBreuil that not only sparkled, but were a joy to peek at while strolling down King Street during Christmas! Keep reading to see how we brought our artistic visions to life.
Each and every piece of our life size displays were handmade by our founder April and the full retail team- Hunter, Catie, Bekah, Bunny, Megan, Brigit, and Hannah! Because we planned to construct each piece by hand, we started in early fall in order to have everything put together and on display by the first week of November.
Our Creative Plan
Undertaking this challenge before the holidays was going to be tricky but every single one of us worked together to create one cohesive vision for each window! Using checklists, we kept track of each element in the holiday illustrations and worked together a few days each week to create each piece. We planned the Sugar Plum Ferry for one window, and the Yuletide Glow fireplace for the other window.
Our team used foam for the base of each element. We drew each individual illustration element onto a foam board and cut them out. Once cut, we painted each piece with acrylic craft paint and added glitter and pipe cleaners with hot glue for texture.
We all came together at the King Street shop one evening during the first week of November to hang our backdrops, connect each piece of the window displays with wire and wooden dowels, and have everything fully lit and set up for the next day and following holidays. Our vision came alive so much better than we hoped, which really boosted our confidence in being able to push the limits of our creativity!
We Received the "Judge's Choice" Vote
There is a dedicated organization called the Charleston Downtown Alliance that oversees the King Street Business Improvement District, in which our 409 King Street retail store resides. This special group dedicates resources to improve and refresh King Street all year long. This year, they held a public vote for the best holiday displays, which was a great way for us to put our hard work to the test.
On December 14th, appointed judges of the contest and members of the public walked down King Street to choose a winner. To our surprise, they came into our shop with balloons to let us know we had won! The details and handmade creativity of our window displays were what drove them to choose us.
We now have a "Best Holiday Display 2025" decal on our window outside! We are super grateful to everyone who considered our shop and came by to see our hard work this holiday!
