#OnShelf: Christmas spirit is back at some malls

by Louise Burgers. Some malls and retailers are doing their best to spread a little Joy to the World as our second Covid Christmas draws near.

Sandton City puts the giving back in Christmas

Sandton City has launched a Disney-inspired Christmas Tree with 700 Disney plush toys on it. They hope to encourage shoppers to support the Smile Foundation, an NGO that improves the quality of children with facial conditions. At the end of the festive season, the toys will be donated to children that have undergone corrective facial reconstructive surgery.

Game releases its Christmas toy list

Game’s list of top toys for the festive season includes toys that will help parents create opportunities for kids to enjoy imaginative and outside play, inspire creativity, and get kids outdoors. “We’ve done the planning to make sure we have the toys that every child will want this festive season. This includes All-in-one Blasters, Petshop Surprise, Sparkle Girlz, playsets and more. With ample options to explore creativity and more time outdoors, parents and children can look forward to a happy festive season of play,” says Katherine Madley, Game vice president of marketing.

Best Christmas ornament

This is my Editor’s Pick for best Christmas tree ornament, spotted (and purchased) at Checkers. Full disclosure: I’m completely biased of course, since I have a sausage dog who has a Santa hat and matching skirt that she suffers through for Christmas pix each year!

CAMPAIGN: In store and in the window

Woolworths chose a sustainability theme for its Christmas window displays this year, as seen at Canal Walk, Cape Town.

I’m not sure there was a specific theme at this Pick n Pay store at Longbeach, Cape Town, other than a brief ‘to use all the Christmas decorations in stock that still worked after two years in storage’. Children were delighted by the reindeer.

Main image credit: Sandton City.

Louise Burgers is the Publisher and Editor and Co-Founder of RetailingAfrica.com. She has spent over 20 years writing about the FMCG retailing, marketing, media and advertising industry in South Africa and on the African continent. She has specialised in local and Africa consumer trends and is a passionate Afro-optimist who believes it is Africa’s time to rise again and that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will be a global gamechanger in the next decade.

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