Ford goes to Frankfurt
Published: 07 February, 2009
Frankfurt’s Christmasworld show is a must-see for anybody in the trade of decking out shopping malls. What were this year’s standout trends, Shopping Centre asked Springfield’s Adrian Ford
While some of us were still stuffed with turkey and mince pies, others are already preparing for Christmas 2009. Christmasworld is one of the most important dates in the calendar for those planning displays in shopping centres for the forthcoming festive season. For Adrian Ford of Springfield Decorations and Displays, attending the show is vital to picking up on new trends and maintaining relationships with suppliers. “Going to Christmasworld is always a very worthwhile trip,” he says.
Christmasworld is always on the front line of key trends for the next year’s festivities. This year, according to the show’s organisers, Christmas tree decorations are drawing their inspiration from the world of fashion with baubles in all nuances of violet. There is also a trend towards white, which is combined with shades of cream, beige or brown. Classic, high-quality Christmas baubles could be seen decorating trees together with glittering wire stars, glass icicles and small bird figures.
Insiders at the show also predicted a couple of more unusual trends. One of these hotly tipped trends incorporates the use of different types of cheeses – Gouda, blue-vein and Camembert – in Christmas tree decorations. Another highlight at this year’s show was Matroshka figures, which contain a smaller sister inside them. There was also a trend towards large decorative objects, such as very large vases.
For annual attendee Ford there were several standout trends at this year’s show. Firstly, coppers, chocolates and golds dominated the colour schemes. However, there was also room for the more traditional pigmentation. “However the trend colours go there is always a lot of red, gold and green,” Ford notes.
One of the most noteworthy trends this year was the use of LED lighting. “Everything was LED,” says Ford. “There were very few tungsten bulbs. In fact, Springfield is probably not going to order any tungsten bulbs; everything we sell is going to be LED this year.”
2009 promises to be a colourful Christmas
For shopping centre customers, the benefits of employing LED lighting are two-fold, “one is power consumption and the second is their reliability and brightness.” LEDs are more expensive from the outset – they’re likely to cost you double – but initial outlay costs will be more than compensated for as the lights will last more than twice the length of time. The LED lighting will also cut the average shopping centre’s Christmas energy bill by 80-90 per cent.
Another benefit of LED lighting is that it helps improve a centre’s environmental credentials. However, while shopping centre outfitters are waxing lyrical about environmentally aware schemes, this drive was not overly evident in Frankfurt. “It didn’t strike me as being a huge deal. I think most people are more concerned that items like LED lighting will save them money first and foremost, but it’s also good for sustainability; it’s better for the environment and better for your pocket.”
There were other new developments in the lighting arena displayed in Frankfurt. “There were some new computer-based lighting effects, but not so suitable for Christmas because of the sheer cost of them. It’s too expensive just to put them in for a couple of months so they’re more likely to be used for permanent lighting installations,” reports Ford.
One form of lighting which is likely to be highly prevalent in festive displays of 2009 is snowdrop lighting. “In snowdrops the light shoots down the tube so it gives the effect of the snow dripping out of the tree.” However, the technology is incredibly flexible and has a variety of different uses, explains Ford. “We’ve taken on a design where it’s now a flexible tube which can be cut to different lengths to make a much more varied design.”
But what is vital to bear in mind when employing any of these trends within the shopping centre environment, is that every mall has individual needs, says Ford. What works for one centre may not work for another.
“When we design a scheme it’s not just a case of saying ‘here are our shapes’, it’s a case of looking at the centre and saying it needs to be this big and we need this many of them to make sure it fits in with the design structure of the mall,” explains Ford. “It’s not just a case of hanging a bunch of stars up.”
