What Goes Up Must Come Down

Santa Claus has come to town. Now that he’s gone, it’s time to pack away the Christmas cheer and store it for next year.

How you remove your décor today will determine how easily you can set up next season. We’re not saying next year’s success entirely depends on this year’s removal, but the stakes are high. Keep reading for our guide on how to prepare your commercial Christmas decorations for removal and storage.

Don’t wait until after the holidays to decide when to take everything down. It’s important that your whole team knows when your décor will be removed so they can adequately prepare. If you’ve hired a team to remove your holiday décor for you, you’ll need to let security know who will be there and when. Schedule routine maintenance and special events around your removal dates as well. If your own team is handling the removal, you’ll need a gameplan. Arrange who’s handling which areas ahead of time and make sure to block off a few days to get everything done. Christmas magic doesn’t happen overnight, and neither does packing it away.

During your décor review, you’ll determine which of your Christmas decorations need to be spruced up before next season. Whether it’s a new string of lights or a fresh coat of paint, you’ll need to make sure these products are set aside from those you’re storing all the way until next Christmas. Label these decorations before you start packing, then note on their boxes that they’ll be refurbished. That way when it’s time to start spiffing up last year’s décor, you won’t have to unpack all of your boxes to see what needs fixing. 

Where you’re storing your decorations can have a big impact on how you pack them away. Do you need to store them in waterproof packaging or bubble wrap? Can your tree be left intact or does it need to be broken down? Don’t do more work than you need to. If your storage space can fit your whole decorated tree, then wrap it in plastic wrap and call it a day. But if you’ll need to stash everything in their smallest parts and pieces, make sure you have enough boxes and enough manpower to break everything down in your allotted time.

There are countless ways to keep your décor organized. You can store by section of your property or type of decoration, you can color code or label your boxes. Whatever works best for your team and your storage space, make sure the whole team knows and sticks to it throughout your removal process. Have a well-documented plan that you can refer back to so you don’t forget your system when you unpack next season.

Feeling overwhelmed? Learn from this year’s hang-ups and next year, don’t go it alone. Plan your commercial Christmas decorations with the pros for a hands-free (and stress-free) holiday.