Bloomfield's Best Holiday Window Displays Shine In 2016 Contest

From Bloomfield Center Alliance: In the spirit of the holidays (and for the excitement of some friendly competition), the Bloomfield Center Alliance (BCA) introduced this year the first ever Bloomfield Center Holiday Window Design Competition. Downtown businesses were invited to participate in this initiative aimed at brightening up downtown streets with holiday cheer, while also bringing attention to Bloomfield Center and its various retailers and restaurants. Twenty-one (21) stores and restaurants signed up to compete for the title of “best holiday window display” in two categories – Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice.

After a few weeks of judging, the BCA announced two winners. Gail Ann’s Beauty Salon (275 Glenwood Avenue) won in the Judges’ Choice category, after being chosen by a three-member panel of volunteer judges who visited each participating business. Anthony’s Cheesecake (71 Washington Street) won in the People’s Choice category after 1,020 votes were tallied through the BCA Facebook page from followers who viewed pictures of all storefront displays. Each business received a plaque acknowledging the victory, along with bragging rights for their award winning displays. Two other businesses received honorable mentions for their holiday designs - Ultimate Visions Hair Salon (71 Washington Street) and Universal Martial Arts (48 Washington Street).

Commenting on how the competition went, BCA Director Ollyn J. Lettman stated “Considering that this was the first time for the initiative, we are very pleased with the level of interest it generated from the community and number of businesses who wanted to participate. Several of them really took the competition very seriously and displayed a great level of creativity and holiday spirit in their storefronts. Our hope is that taken together all these businesses helped to bring a little more holiday cheer to Bloomfield Center and attention to our growing business community.”

The BCA plans to hold the competition again next year.

Photo: Ollyn J. Lettman and Jacqueline Apicell

Photo courtesy of the Bloomfield Center Alliance