Community Appearance Commission announces Holiday Storefront Decorations winners

The Community Appearance Commission (CAC) is pleased to announce the winners of Salisbury’s 13^th annual Holiday Storefront Decorations Awards. Each year, the city commission recognizes and celebrates the extraordinary downtown Salisbury merchants who go above and beyond in bringing a special holiday charm to historic downtown.

A jury of CAC members delighted in viewing more than 50 seasonal displays downtown. Following an afternoon walking tour, the jury selected seven award winners for their creative and inspired storefront displays.

The Best Overall Display goes to Lora Belle Baby at 105 North Main Street. This cool, elegant display features a medley of adorable woodland creatures who have come out from their hiding places to play in the soft, fluffy snow – and to do some holiday shopping! Carefully-placed merchandise is nestled among handsome snow-powdered evergreens that twinkle with soft, understated lighting. Giant three-dimensional snowflakes float gently above the scene as a beaming carrot-nosed snowman looks on. Outside, cords and wreaths of deep green garland with bright red bows completes this fashionable, multi-dimensional display. 

The Home for the Holidays award goes to Winsome Hanger at 103 North Main Street. Featuring antique doors and windows as well as richly-decorated Christmas trees, this inviting panorama evokes the timeless and peaceful tranquility of being at home for the holidays. So grab that hot chocolate, get cozy by the fire, and enjoy the warm company of your loved ones!

The Welcome to Salisbury! award goes to Sparrow’s Nest at 105 West Innes Street. Downtown’s newest boutique shop dignifies Innes Street with its tasteful and newly-refurbished evergreen façade, which is complemented well by a grand wreath bursting with bright red berries, pinecones, poinsettia flowers and fluttering red and brown ribbons. The window displays offer passersby a look into an enchanted winter forest, where glittering white reindeer prance in the snow and an old sled rests against the wall, beckoning you to hop on and take a spin!

The Best Color-Coordinated Christmas award goes to Bella’s Barkery at 203 South Main Street for their vivacious décor that ties together electric blue and hot pink for a quirky and non-traditional holiday pizzazz. Three floppy-eared and tail-wagging doggies in the window seem curious as they behold soft-falling snowflakes – good thing they’re wearing hats to keep warm! Finally, a dazzling cotton candy wreath adorns the front door and completes this delicious holiday display, which both two and four-legged shoppers can savor and enjoy. 

The Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree award goes to – who else? – Griffin’s Guitars at 103 South Main Street! Embracing their dramatic new location on Salisbury Square, Griffin’s wasted no time in embellishing their storefront with a harmonious collection of lively decorations and musical merchandise – a sleigh bursting with toys, a rockin’ horse, and a humongous, gleaming red ornament rest upon luxurious fields of a red-berry holly. All onlookers will certainly feel the rhythm!  

The Best Use of the Streetscape award goes to Brown Eyed Suzy at 113 West Innes Street for their enthusiastic use of the sidewalk to display holiday merchandise. Downtown merchants are always encouraged to activate the public sidewalks with decorations, wares, and other pedestrian amenities, and Brown Eyed Suzy went above and beyond this winter season. An antique red bike augmented by a picturesque wreath is paired with an inviting welcome sign garnished with ruby-red poinsettias and a verdant evergreen tree. The shop is a veritable cornucopia of Christmas plenty, where goods of all shapes, colors and sizes spill out beneath a tantalizing golden mistletoe. 

The Best Nighttime Display goes to Pottery 101 at 101 South Main Street. Traditional Christmas wreaths tied with brilliant red bows bedeck the stately windows and doors of this impressive corner building, which helps anchor Salisbury Square. Grand, radiant stars and trees twinkle behind the windows and set aglow the charming merchandise within. 

Each year there are so many wonderful holiday displays in the downtown windows, and the jury struggles to narrow down the field to a handful of award winners. The Community Appearance Commission thanks all the shop owners and staff who decorate their storefronts for the holidays and throughout the year, making downtown Salisbury such a lovely place to live, work, visit and shop.  

All storefront decoration winners will be invited to the CAC Biennial Awards program in February 2018, where they will be honored for their contributions.