Mother Nature smiled on Christmas decorators this fall. The extended warm and dry weather allowed homeowners to hang their greens in shorts and shirt-sleeves.
It put a smile on Jay Weeter's face as well. He has four wreaths at his home.
He also had a number of them to sell. And sell he did.
"We actually get a lot of our wreaths ready for display in early August," said Weeter, manager at Sioux City's Hobby Lobby store on Southern Hills Drive. "There are a lot of craft shows in August and people like to sell them at those shows."
A trend this year involved neon greens and pinks accenting traditional wreath arrangements.
"People like the flashy colors," Weeter said. "We don't have much of the neon colors left."
In his five years at the store, Weeter said 2011 tops the charts for sales of wreaths, outdoor lights and other outdoor Christmas decorations. The primary reason: Weather.
"This is a strong market for us and the weather has been very good to us this year," Weeter said. "that's the No. 1 factor. It was so nice all fall, people weren't hampered by snow or cold weather in getting their decorations up."
Sales of inside items, he said, have always been strong at the store.
As is the case with most retailers, Hobby Lobby will only sell artificial wreaths. Strings of lights are often weaved into these flame-retardant wreaths. Customers may purchase additional lights as well.
"I'll take one and put three strings of lights in, because I like Christmas lights," Weeter said.
"There are people who buy three or four wreaths. They'll put matching wreaths on doors and have one inside the entryway, and one over the garage," he said.
It's not uncommon to sell four or five wreaths to one customer. An uncommon figure is 30. But that's what a pair of women wanted recently, as they headed up the downtown decorating efforts in their community.
The past several Christmas seasons have also seen local residents purchasing more wreaths for display in cemeteries. Weeter said his store has special stands and wreaths for those wishing to decorate the grave sites of loved ones during this special time of year.
Interestingly, the origin of the Christmas wreath is found with people who lived prior to Christ. It is said that people gathered evergreen wreaths in the dark, cold months of winter across eastern Europe and would light them. The ensuing fire signaled a hope that one day the warmth of spring -- and its renewed life -- would return.
Christians adopted the tradition and began using Advent wreaths to symbolize the everlasting light and life that Christmas brings.
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