Annie

A: I bet you didn’t know that the tradition of the holiday party started during the Great Depression when employers wanted to give their staff an affordable perk since things like raises and bonuses were mostly out of the question.

Although they grew over the years, the office party’s glory days do seem to be fading right now. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great party; you can. Of course, to save money you could make it pot-luck (or partial pot-luck), have a “white elephant” gag gift exchange, have one of the staff be the DJ, and/or play some inexpensive, fun games (scavenger hunts, charades, etc.)

To make the party really different, have each person bring an ethnic dish to the potluck, along with some recipe cards; it is a great way to start conversations and learn something new.

But beyond the traditional holiday party, there are other ways to affordably welcome the holidays:

Have a green holiday party: Bake a cake instead of buying one. Use washable plates and utensils instead of plastic. How about this: Tell everyone to bring their unwrapped gifts from home and offer used packing materials for them to wrap their presents. Or, encourage them to bring possible wrapping material too, such as

• Old maps, coloring book pages, posters, etc.
• Newspapers and magazines
• Sheet music
• Old boxes

In addition, try using material from around the office in creative ways for decorations. Give a green award or present to the most eco-friendly employee. Recycle everything left over at the end.

Bring back the cocktail party: It need not be expensive, and an evening in more formal wear, with adult beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and some Frank Sinatra music in the background could be a blast. But be careful about inviting Don and Betty Draper – rumor has it they are not getting along so well these days.

Volunteer together: An afternoon or a day volunteering can be both a heartwarming and difference-making way to bring in the season as well as being a great bonding and team-building exercise. Ask around and see what people would be interested in doing and then make some phone calls; plenty of organizations would love your help.

Another idea would be to work with a local charity to adopt a few families. You could organize a food and clothing drive, get them some presents, and even a tree. It’s not called the season of giving for nothing, right?

Bake: If someone had a big enough kitchen, the event could involve getting together to bake cookies, gingerbread, cupcakes, etc.

Get out! Organize an outdoor trip to the snow. Sledding, snowball fights and a trip to the lodge for hot chocolate when you are through at the end of the day can be another great, affordable holiday option.

Get arty: What about a group trip to a local winery, or to an art museum followed by lunch?

Time out Consider giving the gift of free time. As everyone is so hectic this time of year, there is no doubt that a free afternoon off here or there would be very welcome way to say thank you.

While it is unlikely that we will see the return of the excessive holiday party any time soon, that just may be a good thing. The personal touch can be a far more affordable, and memorable, way to go.

Today’s tip: Want to know an easy way to navigate the holiday party when you only know people casually or not at all? One veteran social expert suggests that you pretend you are the host. How would you act? You would be gregarious and engaged. Alternatively, consider taking on the role of a reporter: Ask people creative questions about themselves. What is their favorite color and why, what was their first car? Before long you will undoubtedly find a tidbit or morsel of information to converse about.

As fewer consumers decide to participate, so do their total expected spending. This year, 44.1 percent of U.S. consumers plan to spend $3.29 billion on St. Patrick’s Day. Both figures show a slight decline in both participation and spending from last year, when 46.0 percent of consumers said they planned to spend $3.64 billion to celebrate.

The notable decline in spending derives from everyone – even the biggest holiday spenders, young adults – choosing to spend cautiously this year.

“Increased concern about the economy among young adults has forced many of them to pull back on discretionary spending,” said Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. While 71.8 percent of them celebrated last year, only 66.3 percent decided to participate this year.

The most profitable St. Patrick’s Day observed in past five years, back in 2007, fell on a Saturday. As a result, nearly one-third of participating consumers planned to celebrate at a restaurant or bar. Slightly less, about 29.6 percent, plan to do so this year.

Traditionally though, the ways U.S. consumers celebrate the holiday tend to remain the same, according to the National Retail Federation. As observed this year, the majority – almost 82 percent – plan to celebrate by wearing green, while about one-third of those surveyed said they plan to make a special dinner at home.

Using statistical information, recent surveys and targeted polling as resources, Halloween-News.com predicts the following Halloween trends for 2008:

Adult Costumes

This years movie to watch for will include Batman: the Dark Night, Indiana Jones and The Terminator. Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas are always present. You’ll still see a surge of pirate costumes since Capt. Jack Sparrow is still popular. Couples costumes will be big again this year, take a look at some of them at http://www.adulthalloweencostumes.com . The usual horror film bad guys such as the new Michael Meyers costume and mask, Jason from the Friday the 13th series and Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street are all still popular. Classic movie villains such as Dracula, the Wolfman and the Mummy are always good choices. There is a strong resurgence towards the traditional, macabre, dark and sexy. Theater quality Vampire and Witch costumes, particularly sexy ones will be to die for this year. Elvira style costumes will also be in great demand. Gothic, ghostly apparitions as couples costumes will also make an appearance.

Decorating

People are decorating for Halloween like never before! The focus is on realism for adult parties, dark and spooky with lots of realism. With the availability of low cost consumer-based fog machines, more will be sold this Halloween due to the three day week-end with Halloween falling on a Friday this year. You’ll also see more elaborate yard haunts pop-up on this special night, complete with graveyards, skeletons, ghosts and special effects.

Halloween Parties

Halloween falls on a Friday this year and that means a week-end of partying! That gives us an extended two days to celebrate and throw week-end parties, also allowing for longer times running haunted houses and Halloween charity parties. Whether its a Pack of Pirates, Den of Vampires, Zombies, or Ghostly Apparitions, theme based parties are definitely in! And those that hold these parties will pull-out all the stops when it comes to decorating and the libation.

Every season will see different products shoot to the top of the must-have list and others sitting on the shelves, gathering dust. What you want to know is how to stock more of those ‘must-haves’ and fewer of the dust gatherers.

Some seasons will see a trend to fewer purchases – other months, everything you have on the shelves will be selling.

While you can’t change your customers’ buying patterns or convince them to buy what they don’t want, you can use a little logic, research and planning to try and get a better picture of when they are going to want things, what they may want and then prepare accordingly.

Do Your Homework

Start by trying to predict what will sell. If you don’t keep a record of your store sales, you may have a problem with this. The best way to predict the future is to learn from the past.

Looking at your sales from the same time period a year ago will give you a good idea of what sales will be at same time this year.

If you are planning for the fall season, look at last year’s fall sales to know what may be selling this year. Generally, the same types of items will sell, just in the current season’s styles.

Next, plan for typical down times. Create ways to bring customers in that may not traditionally choose to shop right now.

If you would prefer to hear the cash registers ring, you need to come up with new ways to get customers. Some options to do this include holding events, sales and stocking special items:

* Events – Season-based themes usually go over very well (Summer Beach Fun, Spring Break, etc). Use the current season to create an event that incorporates your items.

You could have special visitors that customers can meet, or even a themed party that gets them into your store having fun, and makes them more likely to open their wallets.

* Sales – A great deal will bring in shoppers that were not originally planning to spend money. Design clear signage that lets shoppers know how great the deals are in your store and what they’ll be missing out on if they just walk by.

* Special Items – If your regular items aren’t selling as well, maybe it’s time to try out a few new items or unique niche items that may grab the attention of your customers.

If you can get them in to purchase one small unique item, you may be able to get them to stick around – and purchase a couple more items that are part of your regular inventory.

The key to coping with varying and seasonal product demand is to try to plan ahead for those times to keep the profits coming in.