Holiday Window Works Winners Announced

T Profancik posted on December 21, 2009 08:00

Snow spread throughout Southern Virginia as local retailers decorated for a cause. Eighty-five area merchants participated in the third annual Retail Alliance Holiday Window Works awards competition. This competition was established in 2007 as a means of encouraging and rewarding retailers for decorating their windows, in an effort to increase retail traffic and raise money for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) and the Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors (SMLGN). Holiday Window Works contest winners were recognized at the awards ceremony on Friday, December 18, 2009.

To qualify for the Holiday Window Works award and cash prize, each community needed eight or more businesses to participate. Windows were judged and examined by adherence to theme, use of product, color, etc. Franklin, Ghent, Hilltop, Old Town Portsmouth and Smithfield , were the five districts competing for this award.

The Holiday Window Works winners were Alphabet Soup, Franklin; Decorum Furniture, Ghent; The Full Cup, Hilltop; The Queen Bee, Old Town Portsmouth; The Christmas Store, Smithfield and Vitazen, Smith Mountain Lake. The over-all Holiday Window Works award winner was The Queen Bee in Old Town Portsmouth. The delightful antique & collectables store managed to adhere to the theme, incorporate product, lights, humor and more.

One aspect of the competition is the opportunity consumers have to vote for their favorite window by donating coins to CHKD or SMLGN. The location collecting the most amount of money overall, is the winner. Although there were winners in each district, Home Sweet Home Care in Smithfield took home the regional “People’s Choice Award” for collecting $213.13. All together, merchants in the Hampton Roads area collected $3152.29 for CHKD and $671.82 for SMLGN.

Retail Alliance also added the “Online People’s Choice Award” this year. Participants sent in pictures of their decorated windows and they were posted on www.retail-alliance.com for one week. The business with the most votes won a Free One-Year membership to Retail Alliance. The winner this year with 287 votes was Dylan B. Belt, O.D. in Franklin.

In addition, Retail Alliance recognized participating merchants for going above and beyond in this year’s competition. The “Above and Beyond” awards are as follows: Most Coordinated Window: A. Dodson’s in Suffolk, Best Use of Space: Way Back Yonder Antiques in Portsmouth, Most Creative 2D Window: Nunez Fine Jewelers in Virginia Beach, Most Visionary Use of Product: The Coffee Shoppe in Portsmouth.

Retail Alliance thanks all Holiday Window Works participants for their hard work and dedication decorating for the 2009 holiday season. We look forward to seeing your creative displays next year!