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Will a big office Christmas tree get you back? NYC’s professional decorators hope so.
By
Charles Lane
Published Nov 25, 2023
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Charles Lane/Gothamist
By
Charles Lane
Published Nov 25, 2023
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In an effort to lure office workers back to their desks and staunch the bloodletting of New York’s commercial real estate market, landlords are going big this year with holiday decor.
“Big trees are it this year,” said Kim Cassidy, the holiday decorator for Neave Decor, which specializes in corporate decorations and landscaping. “Some of our vendors that we work with have sold out of trees over 12 foot, 14 foot, 16 foot. It was kind of a mad dash, to be quite frank, to find the bigger trees.”
Cassidy said corporate buildings didn’t decorate much during the pandemic because no one was coming into their offices. But now property management companies, which have seen leases drop 33% from an already miserable 2022, are searching for statement pieces to brighten their lobbies.
How much do they want you back? Enough to spend between $10,000 to $15,000 for six weeks of decorations.
“They want to remind people that, yes, you may have to be coming back into the office three to five days a week, but it's a little joyous around this time of the year,” Cassidy said.
Despite what the grinches say, corporate holiday decor goes up roughly the same time every year. This week was no different.
“We're trying to fill all these orders and get everything done,” said Julia Testa, a Soho florist who specializes in holiday decor for shops and restaurants.
For professional holiday decorators, Thanksgiving is crush week. No one wants to see Christmas lights until after the turkey is carved. But if those decorations aren’t up immediately after, it looks sad, the experts said.
And if there is a trend appearing among decoration requests, it’s that white lights are more popular this year.
“We have an excess of inventory of red and gold this year,” Testa said. “It seems like everyone switched away from the traditional holiday colors and they're doing more of like icy winter themes. I know it goes in and out of style every year, but this year there's a lot of it.”
Let the political prognosticators know, it’s because corporations are scared of pushing Santa on people.
“Everybody wants to make sure that everybody's feeling included,” Cassidy said. “The holidays don't have to be in your face, it has to take your breath away, but not be gaudy.”
Things are a bit different on the residential side, where residents are decorating earlier and using traditional themes.
“I'm still doing the big, life-size soldiers and Santa Clauses, sticking with more tradition for long-standing clients,” said Denise Piccolo, who specializes in high-end holiday decorating in places like yachts and penthouses. The cost of those decorations could be well into the five figures, she said.
“I have a client where there's a Christmas tree in every room,” she said. “Especially with my clientele where they're all about keeping up with the Joneses.”
The other residential trend is away from real trees and toward—”we never say plastic” —artificial trees.
“No one really wants to be bothered,” Piccolo said with a bit of lament. “It’s very sad. Everything's just become so Instagrammable.”
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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