LORD & TAYLOR UNVEILS HOLIDAY WINDOWS AT NYC FLAGSHIP

Lord & Taylor unveiled its 80th annual holiday windows at its Fifth Avenue flagship on Thursday, November 9 in collaboration with the Hallmark Channel and the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club. The event featured a performance by country-pop singer Jessie James Decker, while Lord & Taylor president Liz Rodbell unveiled the windows, which celebrate the theme “The Best and the Brightest.”

The five Fifth Avenue windows each create a whimsical journey. In “Arctic Adventures,” two polar bears meet for a celebratory high-five; “Christmas in the City” features a special holiday scene set against the background of New York City skyscrapers; “Holiday Circus” showcases a vintage-style circus conducted by a special master of ceremonies; “Santa’s Magic” hosts a modern-day Mr. Claus as he looks into his globe; and “Winter Wonderlands” displays a rabbit who ventures towards a magical tree filled with woodland creatures. Meanwhile, the store’s 38th Street windows feature special animations that celebrate the Hallmark Channel’s upcoming holiday programming event, “Countdown to Christmas.”

“My goal is to bring a little extra happiness to everyone, both children and adults, who sees our windows, whether it’s a tourist who specifically comes to view them or a New Yorker on the go,” Roe Palermo, Lord & Taylor’s divisional vice president for merchandise presentation and store visuals, told MR in a special interview. “I want to lift their spirits and have them feel a little more warm-hearted than they did before.”
[metaslider id=138844] Palermo knows directly what she’s talking about. “When I was a child living in Yonkers, I remember my aunt Joan would bring me down to Lord & Taylor every holiday season to see the windows and buy my annual holiday dress,” she recalls. “I consider it an honor to do this for other generations, especially in a store that has so much history and heritage.”

Asked where she gets her inspiration for her inventive displays, Palermo responds: “So many places: videos, Pinterest boards, Instagram, the theater, things I hear on the street. In fact, once one year’s windows are up, I like to listen to the crowd outside the store, which gives me a good read on what works for them and what doesn’t. After all, as soon as I am done with one year’s windows, I am already thinking about what I am going to do next year.”

As Palermo points out, the holiday window display plays a larger part in the Lord & Taylor experience. “I feel like the windows are the equivalent of a first date,” she notes. “If they make a good impression, they will make you want to come in and see what else Lord & Taylor has to offer.”

Indeed, in some ways, allowing the public to finally see her handiwork is the hardest part of her job. “My biggest personal challenge is that I am a perfectionist and super-hard on myself, so I am always working on the windows until the last minute,” she says. “I am actually glad we have a set opening date, or I would probably keep trying to make them better. As I tell my team, ‘we have to wrap it up.’  And those words, ‘wrap it up,’ are the only thing that makes me stop!”

Photos by Cindy Ord / Getty Images for Lord & Taylor