Q1:- Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans:- The Christmas Palace opened for business in August of 1992, with a mission to provide families with a one-stop place to shop for all their Christmas decor needs. We have since established a reputation as the largest and most tastefully decorated Christmas store in South Florida. We carry full lines of the finest tree decorations, lights, artificial trees, collectible figures and more. The Christmas Palace is an approved dealer for every collectible piece we sell. But what really sets us apart is our yearly line of Holiday themes, carefully curated and designed by our local holiday designers. Each tree in the theme collection is themed to make a unique statement on our customer’s homes or businesses. An idea whose original concept was developed as a seasonal business, we are now open year-round and carry holiday decor for Easter, Halloween and other festive holidays. Our showrooms are open to the public in Miami Lakes and Ft. Lauderdale and we also have a 365/24/7 online shop.
Q2:- Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans:-Having graduated from St. Thomas University with degrees in management and marketing, sparked my entrepreneurial spirit. This is our 30th year in business, and our businesses’ longevity truly tells the story of our commitment to providing high quality, outstanding value and exceptional customer service to each and every customer in our stores and online.
Q3:- What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans:-The Christmas Palace started as a family business, inspired by the joy of the Christmas holiday. Living in South Florida in the early 90’s, it was difficult to find a place where people could shop for high-quality holiday décor. The Christmas season has always been such a special time for our family, it seemed like a perfect fit to start a store where we can bring in the cheer and spirit of the holiday to households all over Florida. Now we can share our love of Christmas with the entire United States through our online shop, which opened 4 years ago. I personally travel the world to find and curate the ornaments that we carry, and that get designed into beautiful themed trees every year.
Q4:- What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans:- 1)Never give up – You’ll need a lot of patience to follow through and make your dreams a reality.
2)Focus! Don’t get sidetracked by the latest fad or chasing “shiny objects” – stick to your plan.
3)Follow your dream and do what you like to do.
Q5:- What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans:- I believe that the top skills needed for success as an entrepreneur are: 1) Resilience – you need the ability to adapt to changing situations and always be responsive to your customer’s wants. 2) Persistence – stay strong in the face of opposition – I can’t tell you how many people told me I was crazy to start a seasonal store, but 30 years later we are still going strong and reaching more people than ever before. 3) Hard but smart work – I don’t believe in working hard for the sake of it, you have to be smart at what you work on, and then dedicate the time to see it through.
Q6:- How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans:- “I’m always working” – whether in a meeting, on emails or on calls, it probably averages to over 50-60 hours a week. As an entrepreneur, I always have to stay on top of what’s going on in my businesses.
Q7:- To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans:- Hard work, dedication and not listening to the naysayers. Most of all honesty and integrity in all my dealings.
Q8:- How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans:- We do local advertising through billboards to drive traffic to our stores. Most of our marketing is focused on digital, including email campaigns, Google shopping and of course social media. We find that images and videos are the best way to showcase our beautiful products and we can respond to our customers quickly when they ask us questions through our website or Google Business listing. We are so proud of our staff and the positive reviews we get each year – because of it, word of mouth is one of our most effective ways to be found!
Q9:- Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans:-At the rate we are going, we see ourselves as a top online Christmas retailer in the United States within 5 years and worldwide brand soon after. We have a great opportunity to bring our products into Latin America and the Caribbean.
Q10:- Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans:- I admire how the Container Store has taken over the organizing space and provides every single item you can think of for storage under one roof. It’s a similar concept to our store, where we strive to provide everything you need to decorate for Christmas all under one roof.
Company Detail:
Company : THE CHRISTMAS PALACE
Address : 9820 NW 77th Ave
City : Hialeah Gardens
State : FL
Country: United States
Zip : 33016-2421
Phone : 1-877-367-2474
Email : santa@theChristmasPalace.com