OUR PANAMA CHRISTMAS

panama

As you may know, we import most of our Christmas figures from our factories in the Philippines and China. The figures and Nativity Sets are shipped in steel shipping containers on large ocean going container vessels, such as the ones shown below All of these large ships arrive at our New York Port via the Panama Canal.

For our Christmas break this year we decided to visit Panama and see the country and how the canal works for product like ours. What a surprising country Panama is! Rather than some Central American backwater, Panama City resembles Miami with high rise offices and condos right on the water. High end hotels and sophisticated restaurants cater to international business people and tourists. A network of roads and expressways tie the city together, anchored by the PanAmaerican Highway and they are building a subway. The country is safe for visitors, the people are friendly and welcoming and the currency is the US Dollar. If my narrative sounds like we enjoyed it and will go back, we already plan to.

Panamanians love parties and fiestas and have more national holidays than most countries. Just before we arrived there had been a big Christmas Fiesta and parade. Several of the parade floats featured giant Nativity figures and, after the parade, these were displayed in a park on the Causeway Highway, connecting downtown Panama to the old city and the Canal. The Nativity figures are made locally and don’t have the artistic detail of our figures, but for parade floats celebrating the true meaning of Christmas they are perfect. More on where and how these figures are made in our next post. Here are some photos showing the figures displayed on the  Causeway with the city skyline behind. Looks like Miami doesn’t it?

THANK YOU for a Terrific 2012!

Again, thank you for a terrific 2012. We are sold out of most sets and figures, just in time for Christmas. Next year we will have to stock more Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer combinations, more Nutcracker pairs, more large Santa and Snowmen, more bears and more six foot Nativities.

For 2013, we have designed and created new Santa and Snowmen, additional Nativity figures, leaping, prancing and trotting reindeer and new outdoor Husky Dog Sets. By popular demand, we will have two new Giant Camels, one standing and one resting, in addition to a giant Standing Ox, all for our 6ft Nativity. A new 66″ Tin Toy Soldier will supplement our outdoor offerings.

We plan to bring in a selection of Giant Hanging Baubles for larges spaces and a greater variety of dogs for our Saint Francis Garden website.

We will soon be showing pictures of many of the new items on our blog. Please “watch this space”

Best wishes for Christmas 2012 and a happy 2013.

Five Trends in Christmas Decorating

Decorating your home for Christmas used to be mainly inside the house and was focused on the room with the tree.Many of us can remember going out to cut or purchase a live tree, bringing the boxes and boxes of tree lights and decorations out of storage and the fun of placing the tree in a stand, wrapping the lights around (and trying to find out which one in the string was causing the problem), hanging baubles , tinsel and icicles and finishing with the tree topper and tree skirt.

How have our lives changed? We have less time. We want things prepared or done for us and we are prepared to pay for the convenience. Many of us have less space to store all the tree decorations, but many of us have larger homes with more connection to the outdoors. New technologies and less expensive overseas manufacturing have impacted the kind of Christmas decorations we display.

We have written before on the movement to bring Christ back into Christmas with Nativity Sets, the use of pre-decorated trees and the movement to outdoor decorating. These trends continue to change the face of Christmas decorating. There are. however, several new developments which have impacted the preparation for Christmas celebration.

1. The return of the original reason for Christmas, that is, the birth of Jesus Christ, has created a growing demand for traditional Nativity sets, with the larger sets often replacing the Christmas tree as a focal point for the celebration.

2. When a Christmas tree is the focal point, it is often a pre-lit, pre-decorated tree ,which is complete out of the box. This saves a lot of time but loses the closeness of the family ritual.

3. Newer homes often  merge indoor and outdoor space and this invites more outdoor Christmas decorating. The decorating can be shared with the neighbors or can become community projects.

led-santa4. Most Christmas Lighting has become LED in different tones, replacing the incandescent C-7 or mini light. The look is often brighter and there is a saving in use of electricity.This lighting evolution also applies to large lighted Christmas Displays such as animated Toy Trains and Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer

fiberglass-santa5. Life Size and larger fiber glass Christmas display figures such as Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer, Nutcrackers, Toy Soldiers, Santa, Snowmen  and Christmas Carolers.were mostly seen in commercial displays in shopping centers, retail stores and municipalities. Overseas manufacturing and more accessible pricing and wider distribution have brought these impressive figures home for outdoor decorating.

In general, there are  many more Christmas Decorating options than ever before.

Our Customers Write

We send website newsletters every few weeks to our mailing list of past and present customers.  In these newsletters we try to include advice on Christmas decorating and Nativities. We show pictures of new products and special offers as well as regular features of our website such as our free pictures and our Lay Away Plan.

A few weeks after we ship a product we ask the customer to rate the product and our service, with both  a comment and  a zero to five star score. We receive some wonderful comments and we have published the best in our blog.

We had one recently that we want to share with you.

customer-photo

Jeanette Ricker writes:

Husband Arthur built the stable; he’s been a building contractor and inspector.  [The building can be dismantled for storage.]  For several years now, we’ve wanted to add the 3 Kings…as well as cattle and/or a donkey, etc.  Truth is, we just can’t seem to afford to do so.  We have a HUGE family – growing by leaps and bounds – and by the time we plan gifts for those we MUST gift, there’s just nothing left for our outdoor display.  We’d take you up on your “buy now, pay later” plan, but every January 1st we end up so “far behind” that this kind of planning doesn’t help us at all.  WE DO keep your catalog and ads handy and – if and when we feel we are able – will be in touch to add pieces to our outdoor Christmas display.  Thank you for keeping US in mind!

Jeanette F. Ricker – dba The Executive Assistant – [email protected]

Husband – Arthur W. Ricker, Jr

From Our Wonderful Customers

After we ship an order, our system automatically sends an email to our customer asking them to review the product they received and the service we provided. Once in awhile our review link doesn’t work and our customer writes us directly. It seems that when this happens, our customers shower us with compliments. Being human we wanted to share two of these wonderful emails with you.

From Brenda Robbins:

Camel with Rug Outdoor
Camel with Rug Outdoor

I clicked on the “review me” link but couldn’t understand what to do after it opened, so I will give my review in the form of this email.

The camels exceeded all my expectations, being even more beautiful than the lovely picture online. The quality, colors and detailing are amazing. We purchased all the other Nativity figures last year and were delighted with the beautiful display. I know the addition of our camels will make it even more spectacular this year. What a beautiful way to share the miracle of Jesus’ birth!

I worked with Don Henderson in putting together my Nativity and found him to be incredibly helpful and professional. He was patient and thorough in answering all my questions and dealing with my somewhat exuberant personality. He dispelled all the stereotypes about New Yorkers’ not being warm and friendly and made a convert of this Texas “gal”.

Brenda G. Robbins.

Brenda is very sweet, but shy, so she declined to provide a picture. Instead we are showing the Nativity Camel she purchased and wrote about!


From Milt Westmoreland:

milt-westmorland
Milt Westmoreland

Don,

I was unable to use the enclosed links to praise your product, but I did want to express my gratitude for my beautiful nativity.

When I was a little boy, I always wanted one of those plastic lighted nativities, but my parents would never buy one because we lived so far off the road that no one would see it. I have always wanted one. I began searching for one years ago and never saw one that looked as good as yours. – they all had ugly paint, were unrealistic looking and were very expensive.

When I saw your 12 piece 54” life size nativity, I had to have it. Each piece is a sculpture in itself and the detail on them is marvelous. Their facial expressions almost make them look real.

My nativity arrived promptly (a little early) and intact. I is the most beautiful decoration I have ever owned. I have a large front yard where thousands of people pass each day. During the Christmas season, drivers-by will see this nativity as the testimony of my love for Christ.

I am keeping this purchase a secret from my family and will surprise them in early November. Surly my home will be spectacular this holiday season. I will be sure to send you pictures.

I rate this product 5 stars PLUS!!!

God bless you all!!


Pictures of Us at Christmas Night/Saint Francis Garden

Don at his desk working on an order
Don at his desk working on an order

A picture is worth a thousand words and the social media are proving it. This is a slow sales period for us but we are very busy unloading containers and photographing new items and adding them to our websites. We thought you might want  to see some of us working and give you some idea of how our business functions. We have included images from both our Christmas Night and Saint Francis Garden websites.

Claire in our photography studio, setting up lighting while watched over by the Nutcracker King with Scepter. soon to have his picture taken.
Claire in our photography studio, setting up lighting while watched over by the Nutcracker King with Scepter. soon to have his picture taken.
Codi and the boxer together
Codi and the boxer together
Eddie, Our warehouse manager, making sure that the Nutcracker King is positioned correctly
Eddie, Our warehouse manager, making sure that the Nutcracker King is positioned correctly
Our dog Codi doing what dogs do, checking out the new Boxer before Claire photographs him for our Saint Francis Garden website
Our dog Codi doing what dogs do, checking out the new Boxer before Claire photographs him for our Saint Francis Garden website
Our new warehouse employee, Josh, repacking the Great Dane after photography
Our new warehouse employee, Josh, repacking the Great Dane after photography

As you can see we have a lot of fun with our inanimate friends.

The Five Things Our Customers Want (We Hope)

As a direct marketing business, selling mostly to consumers, we are constantly trying to identify and focus on what will please our customers and keep them coming back. The solid foundation for this effort is our set of values. This can be summarized quite simply as the paraphrased  biblical “Golden Rule” Treat Others as You Would Like to Be Treated. Of course if we didn’t plan, organize and manage for profit we wouldn’t be around to please our customers. Here are the five things we do that we hope  please our customers and keep them coming back.

1. Offer Christmas Products They Can’t Find Elsewhere. This  is easier to do for Christmas Night  because we maintain a sharp focus on large Christmas figures, primarily for outdoor. That means no tree baubles nor tree skirts  and no trees either. Just Life Size Nativities, Nutcrackers, Toy Soldiers, Reindeer and other large figures associated with the celebration of Christmas.

2. Provide Superior Customer Service. I answered a customer call the other day and was happy to take an order for 27″ Nativity Set. When  I asked the customer (as I usually do ) how he found us, he said we were number two on the Google page but we answered our phone and helped him, which the number one ranked  store did not. The term “superior customer service”is a cliche  these days as so many companies claim to offer it. Few companies follow all the way through as we do, even after delivery.

3. Offer Good Value. We don’t always have the lowest prices on our products, we offer free shipping on a limited number of products and we rarely  discount our  product prices. Nevertheless, the product reviews and customer comments seem to confirm that we provide good value. The items which arrive broken are replaced as soon as possible and defective items are repaired or replaced.

4.Maintain High Quality. We have replaced several suppliers who have let their product quality slip, we spot check our incoming shipments and we  constantly work with our factories to improve molding and painting.

5. Make Our Products Easy to Find Online. How many times have you entered a key word or phrase online and the search engine takes you to a website which offers nothing even close to what you want, but owes its prominent  position to search engine tricks. With us, when you have taken the trouble to define exactly what you want, that’s what you get. No “bait and switch”

So there you have it, an opinionated list of what we see as our strengths. Perhaps you don’t agree and think we are off base or blowing smoke. Please tell us. We really do want your feedback

Charleston at Christmas

Our Christmas vacation this year was a trip to The Kiawah Island Golf Resort in the Low Country of South Carolina, not far from the historic city of. Charleston. We took a day to drive into the city, which was bustling with tourists like us and holiday crowds. South Carolina low country has a profusion of churches and Charleston is the same. What is interesting about the churches in the city is the age, history and variety of  christian denominations represented.

We first visited St Michael’s Church on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia. Erected in 1680 as St Phillips Church and subsequently rebuilt several time to replace buildings destroyed by fire or grown too small for the congregation, the current building was opened for services in 1761. The church exterior is dominated by a near 200 ft steeple and weathervane. The interior is very intimate with the native cedar pews almost on top of the altar and galleries hanging over on three sides. The pews have doors at each end, perhaps to ensure the the right people sit there. To the left of the very high pulpit is a small platform where the very small Nativity Set was placed. We thought this an insufficient display for such an historic and inspiring church.

We had been advised to visit the French  Huguenot Church, built in the ” French Quarter” of  Charleston in 1844. The Huguenots were French Calvinists who faced suppression in France and were very nearly wiped by successive Louis Kings. Growing up English Protestant in Montreal. I can remember being surprised to hear of a French Protestant school surviving in a sea of French Catholics. The present Huguenot church in Charleston, like St Michaels, was rebuilt after a fire and survived damage from the Civil War and the Charleston Earthquake. When we visited, the church was closed for major exterior renovation. Not surprisingly services are conducted in English, except for an annual service in French to  celebrate spring.

We then visited the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist, which is a newly constructed but large and inspiring version of classic church design.As is usual in Catholic churches, there were about five different things going on at the same time. I have always been impressed with their level of activity and utilization of their facilities on days other than Sunday. A very good business model.

We had lunch at S N O B, which is not elitist but stands for Slightly North Of  Broad (street). Reservations were required and the food was a wonderful blend of southern and foreign influences.

After lunch we went looking for a Nativity customer who had purchased our Christmas Nativity 40″ and had asked us to drop by when we were in Charleston. The city is a small area and much easier to walk around than drive. Our customer was in a classic Charleston house on a corner of the Historic Area south of Broad Street and  sheltered from the street by a wall and wrought iron fence. With luck, we found the creche and had a nice chat with the family. They plan to buy a a larger stable and add new pieces to the Nativity,  including the  camel.

Disappearing Reindeer?

Just in time for Christmas, the New York Times published an op-ed piece by a Canadian wildlife biologist Justina Ray entitled ReindeerAre Fading Into Holiday Myth . Her premise was that climate change and development make it hard for the caribou (also called reindeer) to survive. According to the article, development projects and resource exploration are shrinking their wilderness refuge and roads and other access for resource development are making it easier for hunters to reach the caribou. I guess the controversial Keystone IX oil pipeline project to carry Canadian Tar Sands oil to the US Gulf and the whole Canadian Tar Sands development are part of this dramatic reduction in the Caribou habitat.

Apparently global climate change and instability is also a major factor in caribou herd reduction. In their normal environment, as harsh as it is, who would have thought that too much ice and snow would harm them-but it make it difficult to find their food sources under the snow pack. Combined with unpredictable weather and the increased number of forest fires and tundra fires caused by this, there is much higher calf and female mortality.

Since everybody talks about global weather instability (Global Warming) but nobody does anything about it, global politics will ensure that this source of caribou decimation will only get worse.

And, given that hydrocarbon sources in the Middle East will become more and more unstable and risky, development of these resources in the far north of Europe, Asia and North America, ironically made easier by Global Warming, will continue more rapidly in the coming decades.

Sadly, we must conclude that the decimation of the vast caribou herds once found in Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin,, Michigan, Vermont,New Hampshire, Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick will continue. A natural result of the growth of human population  and human enterprise.

So, along with the historical Nativities and St Nicholas(Santa Claus) and fanciful Toy Soldiers and Nutcrackers we will eventually remember the reindeer as either  Christmas Holiday history or myth

Advice on Buying A Nativity

Everyone loves a deal! In these days of “free shipping”, “free returns”, coupons and big discounts for internet purchases it’s easy to forget the need to ensure the quality of the set, the continuity of supply and the ability to find matching pieces in future years. I will expand on these three concepts in this blog.

Quality of the Set: The best and most durable of the many Holy Family  and Nativity and Creche scenes being offered these days are made of fiber glass and ,with sets up to about 40″ tall ,with a filled poly resin. The fiber glass sets are made in the same way that small to mid size  boats are made and are very durable and resistant to cracking or chipping. The filled poly resin sets are also strong, although, pieces over 40″ , in our experience, may become brittle and crack easily. The paint should always be outdoor, sunlight resistant. Painted poly resin figures may need a clear coat sealant.

Continuity of Supply: Many stores and websites in the garden, home furnishing and even discount retailing are offering a few Nativity figures, usually a Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Once these sets are sold, at very low prices, there is no certainty that they will ever carry these items again. That can leave you searching high and low next year and the year after to add to or complete your set.

Finding Matching Pieces. While you may find Nativity pieces of a similar size next year, there is no guarantee that you will be able to complete your set with all figures designed and built to create a complete and integrated scene. It is very likely, that when you do find these pieces, they will cost quite a bit more than your original pieces and will not be offered with free shipping. Respect for a special kind of product and what it stands for as well as dedication to offering the very best quality and service to our customers are more important to us than the latest internet fad.