The Dallas home of the Milam family has turned their front yard into a miniature golf winter paradise for the holidays.
Christmas decorations are on display from almost sunrise to sunset, and visitors may rent a club to play a round of putt-putt with themes like Santa, candy canes, snowflakes, and more.
Firefighter and father of two Mike Milam remarked, “You can see not just the excitement and wonderment of kids, but also of adults.”
Since the Covid epidemic, the Milam family has made decking out the front yard a yearly ritual. The ornate decorations of the family of four reflect a trend that several stores, including as Walmart and Home Depot, have attempted to take advantage of in recent years: Some consumers are increasing their spending on seasonal décor while keeping an eye on their expenditures on other luxuries.
This Christmas season, consumers are choosing experiences and decorations above presents, according to a yearly poll on holiday spending conducted by consulting company Deloitte. According to the study, participants anticipated spending around 3% less on presents this year than they did the previous year.
However, they anticipated spending an additional 9% on non-gift goods, with Christmas decorations accounting for the majority of that increase.
Almost 60% more than they spent during the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday season, survey participants stated they intended to spend $181 on furniture, home-related products, and holiday decorations, a 22% increase from the previous year.
Even businesses like Target, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree, who have seen a decline in other categories, are benefiting from the holiday décor.
Customers are “looking for ways to add a little bit of seasonal decor,” according to Target’s Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez, who stated this during an earnings call in late November. This led to greater sales of accessories like frames, candles, and vases in the most recent quarter.
Todd Vasos, the CEO of Dollar General, expressed his satisfaction with the retailer’s response to “the discretionary side of Halloween” during the company’s earnings call in early December. As the network of dollar stores entered the height of the Christmas season, he said that the responses of customers to that seasonal décor gave “some glimmers of hope.”
Holidays might not be saved by décor.
However, sales of Christmas décor might not appear as festive as some businesses would like.
Chris Butler, the CEO of National Tree Company, for instance, stated that sales had decreased over the last two years. According to him, the New Jersey-based business, which sells online through stores like Amazon, Macy’s, Home Depot, and Kohl’s, anticipates flat revenues in the next year.
Although artificial Christmas trees usually account for about 70% of the company’s revenue, Butler added that it also offers garlands and wreaths.
According to Butler, during the epidemic in 2020 and 2021, when customers had more time at home and more stimulus money to spend, sales increased dramatically. He went on to say that 2022 and 2023 “have been down years because we’re getting over that big boom.”
Customers usually receive a new fake tree every five to six years, according to the company’s study. According to him, the replacement time was prolonged by pandemic purchasing habits and the strain inflation had on households.
Butler stated, “If you can try to make that tree last another year, consumers are probably going to do that instead of buying new trees.”
Since their 12-foot skeleton, Skelly, went viral during the epidemic, Home Depot, a longstanding retailer of both artificial and real Christmas trees, has pushed more toward seasonal décor. This year, in addition to a variety of other décor items like animatronic Disney figures, it is offering an eight-foot Santa and an eight-and-a-half-foot reindeer.
According to Lance Allen, senior merchant of decorative Christmas for the home improvement shop, the company managed to strike a balance in order to draw in consumers who were trying to cut back on their holiday spending after the period of high inflation. He said that, in comparison to previous years, it purchased more inexpensive fake Christmas trees this year, including a prelit tree that costs $49.
At less than $40, he noted, its “porch greeters”—plastic figures that resemble a little snowman or a golden doodle wearing a Santa hat—are also a more affordable option.
In an effort to appeal to customers who are more discriminating and prefer to spend money on desires rather than necessities, Target’s executives have also emphasized value. According to spokeswoman Brian Harper-Tibaldo, the big-box store is also leveraging trends like pink Christmas décor, vintage porcelain ornaments, huge bows for walls and foyers, and miniature figures for mantel landscapes.
Additionally, Walmart has tried to provide value while pursuing social media-driven trends in an effort to boost sales. It saw that people were purchasing its painted giant nutcrackers and repainting them, so it introduced a six-foot-tall white nutcracker.
According to Sheila Wiles, Walmart U.S.’s lead merchant for holiday décor, the nutcrackers were sold out when they were originally offered for sale last year. She claimed that even though Walmart quadrupled their supply of them this year, they were almost completely gone before Halloween.
According to her, inexpensive décor has also been popular, with consumers adorning their Christmas trees with 98-cent fake icicles rather than ornaments and creating their own garlands out of $1.98 red velvet bows.
This season’s holiday décor sales numbers and whether the category is doing better than it did last year were not disclosed by Home Depot, Target, or Walmart.
Making the most of your décor
In addition to creating a festive show, the Milam family sought to provide value along the way.
The majority of the décor was handcrafted by the Milam family rather than purchased. According to Mike Milam, the family decorated their front yard with a miniature golf course that cost around $1,000. His primary source of materials was Home Depot, where he purchased paint, timber, and other equipment. Beginning in the autumn, the four members of the family—Mike, his wife Katie, their 12-year-old daughter Merrick, and their 10-year-old son Nash—built the putt-putt holes together on the weekends and evenings.
The family also spent $129 on an eight-foot genuine Christmas tree from Home Depot and $20 on a decorative plastic Christmas chicken from Amazon this year.
However, according to Mike Milam, the majority of the Milams’ décor is recycled from previous years. Most families in his area, he said, had set up the same yard decorations and inflatables as they did the previous year.
This year, Mike Milam claimed to be “more conscientious” about his expenditures. The cost of power and food has increased. Additionally, as his children grow older, they participate in increasingly expensive sports.
“Everything is a bit more costly,” he remarked.
Although decorating can be costly, he intends to keep decorating his home and has many more ideas for the front yard. The family has already decorated the front yard with themes such as Super Mario from Nintendo and a Christmas adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s beloved film “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
He has reduced his expenditure on gifts for his children as he has invested more time and money in Christmas décor.
“I prefer experiences to material possessions,” he declared.
He said that by learning how to paint, lay AstroTurf, and use an electric saw, his kids had improved their handiwork. It has evolved into a means of fostering creativity and family unity.
