2010 lighting season brings a big disturbance for most of us!

[Tim P]

2010 lighting season brings a big disturbance for most of us!

Everyone will be affected for the 2010 lighting season. Well, there may be some lucky ones out there in the US that may not be affected. I?ll explain, this is the first year that many of us animated lighting enthusiasts will enter a season without one HUGE factor. LIGHTS!
Since the beginning of computerized animated lighting time, (approx 5 years ago for most of us) we have always wanted bigger better and most importantly MORE LIGHTS. It appears that we all would hawk the retail stores (Target, Lowes, Wal-Mart etc) from December 26th on into January just waiting for the big mark down. Whether it is 50% off, 75% off or even 90% off, we waited and just bought cases and cases of lights and in some people?s case, it was pallets. Why, why did we buy that much? We bought because it was cheap and at the volume we all buy, a good discount was needed. Oh, did I forget to mention that we bought them because the lights were just there and still in stock. Indeed, for many years retailers had ample amount of inventory left over and while the rest of the world thought Christmas was over on December 26th, here we are banking on the sale. Well, that has all changed. THERE ARE NO LIGHTS LEFT over!!!! Retailer have lessoned there 2009 stock big time.
I know one of the biggest reasons I was able to enhance my show every year, was because I simply could buy boat loads of lights at a cheap price. Since that is not the case this year for me and for everyone I have spoken with, I?m wondering what creative work around I/we have to come up with. I know I cannot afford to buy them at regular price. Buying TONS of Christmas lights after Christmas as we know it, is gone!

I don?t mean to make this sound so negative, but unless someone is going to sell me TONS of Christmas lights at .25 a box, it is a fact and it is reality for me and most likely for many others. I?m not sure any of us realize the impact it will have for us come Oct next year. Let?s face it, we all want to get bigger or get more detailed. If you think you?ll be fine and just keep the same display as this year, remember, LED or not, you will lose a few sets over the year. They do not last forever and they do get damaged on the ?take it all down and pack up til next year?.
Anyway, I would like to see what everyone else is thinking about this topic and see what solutions you are thinking about to help overcome this challenge.

Tim P

[Thyno]

i think its just a sign of the times. the economy has been tough the last couple of years. inventories are kept low. once the economy rebounds, i think it will turn to the way they were. that of course depends on if the rest of the world sees al gore for the buffoon he is.

[Dale W]

I think that hard times just weed out the weak. Historically safe harbors for sales like Target, Lowes, Home Depot and others are doing what they can to protect their existance by ordering less.

This will force us to become more creative. Make no mistakes about it, they are taking a loss when they are discounting more than 50% on some of their items.

What can we do? We can use the power of our market to purchase in bulk and ship out from China. Companies like Paul's and others have sprung up in an attempt to fill this niche. However, even with the buying power of our market, they are only able to negotiate so much with the Chinese manufacturers. On top of that, one bad year can really hurt them and us (or a bad manufacturer for that matter).

If we are patient, we can wait it out. But it will force us to be more resourceful in our quest to find discounted lights. I know that locally there were not many (any) lights to be found at Target on 12/26 (Target is my vendor of choice for minis). But when I was traveling in Tennessee and Arkansas, I was able to find all the lights I need. The point is that we will have to move out of our traditional markets to find lights. I ultimately drove 250 miles (one-way) to find Target minis at 50%-75% off. The economics of such a trip could quickly outweigh the savings if I were not traveling to the town I was going to for business.

Hard times will end and when they do, companies will hopefully go back to their wasteful ways.

[Ron]

I'm planning on keeping my light count about the same this year as last and try to add to my display wth more blowmolds and plywood cutouts. Then wait and see what next year brings.





Ron