Across department stores, thousands of glimmering Christmas lights and extravagant window displays are doing the work to beckon in customers and brighten up a potentially gloomy season. Consumer budgets are tighter, luxury’s rebound isn’t expected to fully come to fruition until next year, and the Trump administration’s tariff policy has thrown pricing strategies into disarray.
The pressure is on for the ever-important fourth-quarter holiday sales season to deliver. Retailers are pulling out all the stops and coming up with ways to drum up sales without relying heavily on promotions, which eat further into margins at a time when supply chain costs are rising.
Vogue Business surveyed the holiday plans of six key retailers in the US, the UK and Ireland — Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Selfridges, Harrods, Liberty and Brown Thomas — to find out how they’re gussying up their store displays, gathering the most giftable assortments and positioning themselves as go-to destinations in what’s sure to be a complex and competitive shopping season.
Bloomingdale’s: From scarves to Santa
A giant Burberry check scarf hugs Bloomingdale’s 59th Street façade. Inside the store, you’ll find a crimson-check capsule spanning graphic tees to beanies, collectible Burberry-dressed holiday bears and a branded takeover at rotating retail space The Carousel. The British brand is “co-author” of Bloomingdale’s immersive holiday experience, a partnership that came out of “a shared desire to build a holiday moment that feels both iconic and joyful”, according to Rachel Abeles, Bloomingdale’s SVP of customer and revenue growth.
“The holidays are when people want to feel connected — to family, to tradition, to each other,” says Abeles. This sense of togetherness is the crux of the US department store’s Happy Together holiday campaign, which emphasizes the cross-generational and emotive aspects of festive consumption. “Customers aren’t just searching for gifts during the holiday season, they’re searching for moments that feel special and experiences that augment their lives.” For 2025, the level of brand integration — and immersion — at Bloomingdale’s flagship is the deepest yet. Aside from the Burberry activations, Canada Goose has staged a holiday pop-up featuring heritage and archival pieces, Baccarat has overhauled content studio-slash-cocktail bar Studio 59, while Santaland, to which visits have become tradition for many, has undergone a reimagining.
Bloomingdale’s.Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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