Dance retailers are always looking for fresh ideas when it comes time to gather up the twinkle lights, garlands, and fake snow and deck the store with holiday displays. A large tree display—positioned just beyond the “decompression zone” so it’s the first thing customers see as they enter the store—can be a real attention-getter, both in the store and on social media.
Retailers have made Christmas trees out of everything from green wooden boxes to fuzzy mittens. The more unusual the design, the bigger the buzz, enticing customers to visit the store just to see it—and to linger once they’re there.
One year, Kelly Shouse, co-owner of Tutus and Dance Shoes in Augusta, GA, made this tree, which was more than five feet tall, out of discontinued pointe shoes that she was unable to sell. The thought of throwing them away was disheartening, she says, so she affixed the shoes to a metal tree frame. Here are the steps she took to create her beautiful pointe shoe Christmas tree.
Supplies
- a large metal Christmas-tree frame (Shouse found hers in the holiday lights section at Lowe’s)
- pointe shoes
- hot glue
- sturdy string
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Position Your Pointe Shoe Christmas Tree
Choosing a visible location is key to pulling off a successful focal display, so before even starting the construction, decide where you’ll put it. Keep in mind that, depending on the size, the finished product may be hard to move, advises Shouse. Her completed tree would never have fit through the door of her store. Fortunately, she built it in the spot where it was displayed.
Tip: If you build a smaller tree, set it on a table to get more height and visibility.
Step 2: Prepare the Pointe Shoes
Prepare your shoes to be hung by gluing a piece of string to the heel of each shoe, on the sole side. Since your shoes may be all different sizes, Shouse recommends making sure that all of the toes line up so the display looks even.
Step 3: Attach the Shoes
Carefully tie each shoe to the wire rungs of the tree. Start from the bottom and work your way up to increase the display’s stability.
Step 4: Add Finishing Touches
Top your tree with a shiny star or a big bow. Add a sign with your store’s social media handles and a seasonal hashtag to encourage customers to post their Christmas-tree selfies for that extra holiday promotion.
Customer Reactions
At Tutus and Dance Shoes, the pointe shoe tree was a bigger hit than the storeowners expected. “We were shocked how positive the reaction was,” says Shouse. Customers asked to have their pictures taken in front of it, creating a social media buzz for the store during a season when every store is competing to drive traffic through the front door.
It’s also a great way to show off these specialty shoes, says Shouse. “We don’t keep a lot of pointe shoes on display, and I think it allows little girls to see what they look like up close,” she says. “It gets them excited about what’s to come”—and strengthens the emotional connection to the store that carries them.
Libby Basile is a former editor for Dance Retailer News and the owner of a specialty retail store based in Cheshire, CT.
A version of this article was published on Dance Business Weekly in 2019.