Christmas Windows 2011

Lakeland-based artist Ray Cuzzone spends October, November and half of December painting Christmas scenes on Polk County business fronts. He described the seasonal gig as his livelihood.

Window Guy Gives Businesses Holiday-Themed Windows: Turns out, there is a person who decides when the timing is right for Christmas decorations, and he's a grizzled, ball cap-wearing painter. "I'm the window guy," said Ray Cuzzone. The 73-year-old Lakeland painter has spent the past 35 years painting bug-eyed reindeer, smiling Santas and bright red ribbons on Polk County storefronts. And with more than 40 clients to serve each year, he starts prying open his paint cans in late October. A nomadic artist, Cuzzone said the holiday season has become essential to his livelihood, one constant among his usual smattering of random commercial jobs. Over a six-week span, he brings in the bulk of his annual earnings, he said. His methods are straightforward. Using the bed of his pickup as a paint station, Cuzzone dips his brushes into all sorts of holiday reds and greens — then colors in simple sketches he pre-draws on the window glass.

The flourish of hands reveal his bouncy self-confidence. Only partially hidden in stubble, he sports an infectious grin. The smile only broadens at mention of the timing of his work. Pausing to light a cigarette, he mused for a moment. "People say to me all the time, ‘But it ain't even Halloween yet! It ain't Thanksgiving yet!' " he exclaimed. "You know when it's early enough? Oct. 1. Who cares?" Local restaurants certainly have no complaints. They make up his biggest customer base. Cuzzone spent part of last week at Fresco's Bakery and Bistro on Kentucky Avenue. He crossed the street the same week to complete two more stores. Two weeks before, he finished Harry's Bar and Grille. "This will be the first year he's painted the windows for us," said Fresco's owner, Tina Calhoon. "You'll never be sorry promoting Christmas too early in the restaurant industry, because it's all about gift certificates these days."

Of course, with more than 40 stores to complete, Cuzzone's timing is based largely on mathematics. He has to finish painting by mid-December, meaning he must start in late October. Once Dec. 10 rolls around, painting more windows doesn't justify the cost, he said. "There's a million, trillion artists in this country," Cuzzone said. "And they're probably better than me. But I make money doing this. You hear the term ‘starving artist?' That's not for me." There aren't many window artists in Polk County, which gives Cuzzone a big market. His work can be found across Lakeland and in the east part of the county. The storefronts take about five hours apiece to complete, which can be tiring, he said. For bigger projects, he'll sometimes enlist his son, Tony, to help. "Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, and how can you not recognize that if it's staring you in the face at a window?" he said.

Bloomingdale's 59th Street Unveils Holiday 2011 Windows

Christmas Window Displays Light Up Across Manhattan To Kick Off Holiday Season: Slowly but surely, the Christmas customs which make New York City a holiday destination are returning to ring in the 2011 season. Macy’s Herald Square will unveil their legendary Christmas Windows Thursday evening. Whoopi Goldberg is set to appear alongside the cast of Broadway’s Sister Act. Meanwhile, Bloomingdale’s debuted their 59th Street holiday windows Wednesday evening. The event included a performance by cast members from Broadway’s Priscilla Queen of the Dessert and the winner of America’s Got Talent, Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.

Bloomie’s windows celebrate the store’s iconic shopping bags. The display features a selection of recreated, oversized vintage shopping bags on a blue backdrop. The festive decor also has a camera tucked away inside – it will snap a photo of window-gazers to display in the window, and will also  be sent to the Bloomingdale’s Facebook page. Lord & Taylor lit their Christmas windows Monday night with the help of Kathie Lee Gifford.

Earlier than ever: A Selfridges employee hands a decoration on a tree in London in August last year. This year the Xmas season started in July.

A shoe store in Kelowna has upset many in the town because of its Christmas display of a coke-snorting reindeer.

A cocaine-snorting reindeer display prompts uproar in Kelowna, B.C. - A window display in downtown Kelowna, B.C. has given whole new meaning to the phrase: White Christmas. The window display of a two-foot-tall golden reindeer apparently snorting cocaine was put up earlier this month for its shock value, said shoe store owner Steven Johns. And shock it did, he admits.  It also brought in a lot of business and that was his goal, said Johns, who said he has a masters degree in communication, specializing in marketing consultancy from Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

But the cocaine, he assures the Star in a phone interview, wasn’t real. The white powder on a table and on the Christmas tree was nothing more than cleaning powder, he explained. “Shock value sells,” said the 31-year-old who owns the fashion shoe store. “Any publicity is good publicity. “It’s not about promoting drugs. It’s a shock value window that got people talking. We’re in an economic crisis in Canada. The big box stores are eating us alive. Small stores have to compete with the sharks in a very tough market.

“We’re a young people’s fashion shoe store. We cater to a young, hip clientele who love cutting-edge shoes and cutting-edge window displays.” And the display proved his point, he said. It not only increased sales, but also generated calls from as far away as Los Angeles and Chicago. One caller even offered him a job in Los Angeles doing marketing. And clientele from Calgary drove to Kelowna to see the window and take pictures, he said. But in Kelowna not everyone appreciated Johns’ windows or attempts at increasing sales. He said that for the first two days business was booming thanks to the display. Then a number of older citizens complained on the local television news about it.

See the winning Christmas card from last year here.