30+ Holiday Items Suggested by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
I
noticed when I lived in Stuttgart, Germany for 5 years that Christmas Markets
(Christkindlmarkts) brought in a large amount of money to the cities around
Germany that held them through sales tax on merchandise and food.
Messiah
Chorus Singings by the German composer Handel (who lived in London most of his
life) might also make money by selling merchandise. Messiah choruses have been filmed by PBS for
information on what these are.
Basically,
Messiah participants sing one of the 4 main chorus sections they feel they are
in with a little tuning up by a conductor with orchestra. (The four chorus sections are soprano, alto,
tenor, baritone.)
There
seem to be 4 things that you need to do to set up a month-long Christmas market
like the Germans do in Bavaria (Municha and Nüremberg) and Baden-Wurtëmberg
(Stuttgart).
1-Obtain
a sales permit that allows you to collect sales tax and pay it to the city or
county that issues it
2-Offer
free to low-priced activities for children and teens to do while parents shop
3-Sell
moderately priced merchandise for preschoolers up to adults
4-Sell
limited yet nourishing, warm food selections at a low-price
You
should try to set up a budget of all known expenses for your first Christmas
fair to know your “break-even point” – where you pay expenses and begin to make
profits.
Other
expenses may crop up. Keep track of the
unexpected expenses and do simple knowledge management at the end of the Christmas
Fair to organize a better budget the following year.
Do
the steps below for a “basic knowledge management” assessment of the Christmas
Fair.
-Look
at the budget estimated for the current year’s fair
-Look
at the money actually brought in for the current fair
-If
the money brought in for the current fair is larger than the estimated budget,
you have a profit.
If
you have less money brought in than the current year’s budget, you have a loss.
-Write
up “Lessons Learned” from the current year’s Christmas Fair, so you can improve
the next Christmas Fair
-Write
up “Best Practices” to Implement for the next Christmas Fair that might make it
easier to make sales, collect payments, park cars, get people on buses and
transport them to a venue, and pay sales tax faster.
I
have already posted a blog on typical winter food items for Germany. Many communities in the US with German
settlers sell bottled white asparagus, braised red cabbage, and sauerkraut in
addition to importing these items from overseas.
I
have also listed some activities for learning German that could be done at the
Christmas Fair. I have more
holiday-themed activities coming, but I would like to deal with merchandise
here.
I
have 30+ items listed below that different communities might want to sell and
that might be in stock in various warehouses around the US:
1-The
Game of Life board game that teaches financial management to children 10 and up
2-Stöllen
coffee cake made with golden raisins (Sultana) to go with strong German coffee
and cream
3-Gingerbread
from Nüremberg in decorative tins with scenes of medieval Germany on them –
made from recycled aluminum?
4-Handcarved
wooden toys (Möbil brand)
5-Handcarved
wooden Christmas tree ornaments
6-Tin
Christmas tree ornaments – Käthe Wolvert sells these and has a subsidiary in
the US
7-Manger
Scenes – Käthe Wolvert
8-German
coffee
9-German
stainless steel coffee pots
10-German
herb teas
11-Calendars
of German, Austrian, and Swiss sites
12-Bottled
sauerkraut – red and white
13-Holiday
tablecloths
14-Non-holiday
tablecloths
15-Holiday
placemats
16-Holiday
napkins
17-Dried
Fruit and Nut trays
18-Christmas
books for children
19-Peter
and the Wolf audios, DVDs, and child-sized instruments
20-Bingo
game set with metal ball tumbler
21-German
jams and jellies (you can use this in tea in place of sugar and put it in rice
cooked with milk and vanilla)
22-Kiddy
card games – Go Fish, Old Maid, Rummy, Hearts
23-Various
ready-made quick breads from bakeries
Banana-walnut
bread
Pumpkin
bread
Zucchini
bread
Carrot
cake bread
Applesauce
bread
24-Holiday
Cookies
Hershey
blossoms made with their kisses look like brown-eyed Susans
25-Reusable
grocery bags from local merchants
26-Hard,
plastic roller baskets to carry items from the supermarket to your car or home –
you can wipe them down easily if going through slush
27-Poinsettia
plants
28-Various
kinds of woks – The Philippines is a Catholic country, too
29-Rice
cookers
30-Chopsticks
– Vietnam and Japan both have minority Christian populations
31-Fondue
pots and set
32-Gently
used November issues of family magazines with recipes for side dishes for
Thanksgiving
33-German
books available from Korn and Berg bookstore in Nüremberg, which has been in
existence since the 1400s
These
items are suggestions for merchandise at a Christmas Fair Market.
Happy
Holidays!!!
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