A 1997 throwback!
By Becky Pekovich, image by Ronnie James
For The Outpost
Keeping Christmas fun and traditional isn’t easy for most retailers since they depend on Christmas sales for a majority of their yearly income. Sometimes with all the sale ads, extended hours and crowds, we have trouble seeing any Christmas cheer in the stores. However, Pat Hansen of Hansen Music, 1819 Grand Ave., is an exception! Walking into the front door of Hansen Music, I knew immediately my Christmas questions of the week could be a new record in one store: What do you do that is unique, fun or traditional to keep the Christmas spirit alive in your store during the holiday season? In 1989, Pat moved his store to the Grand location from downtown, where he had owned t he store since 1979. During this first winter, he noticed a stain from water on the ceiling tile. Pat’s idea sprang to life when he discovered that his store Christmas tree was too tall.
“We pretended to be too stupid to cut the bottom off the tree, so we cut a hole in that stained ceiling tile and proceeded to put the top of the tree through the ceiling,” he said. “Now we look very carefully each year for a tree that is too tall.”
Thus began the tradition. Pat and his employees – Art, Bob, Jason and Neil – fight over who gets to go get the tree unless, of course, it is cold and snowy outside. Then no one wants to go. “People’s reactions vary from funny to just shaking their heads,” Mr. Hansen says. Surprisingly, no one asks why the tree’s top base been placed through the ceiling. Pat and his gang plan to continue with the tradition, but they decorate the tree differently each year. ‘This year we wanted to get a slimmer tree that would not lake up so much space,” he said. But as all good plans go sometimes, Hansen Music has the biggest tree it has ever had this year.
