Woolworths Xmas display wins global retail awards

Handcrafted origami Christmas trees

The award-winning display was inspired by indigenous South African trees and used origami techniques to fold paper leaves out of recycled and recyclable paper. These leaves were used to create unique handcrafted Christmas trees for 10 window displays in stores across the country.

Part of the Christmas trees were live tree seeds, housed in specially designed seed pods. These leaves and seedpods were made in close collaboration with a local Non-Government Organisation (NGO). The trees were lit-up from inside to give them an attractive glow. The inclusion of movement, ensured that the trees moved up and down slowly, giving an impression of each tree “growing” in front of the customers’ eyes.

Seed pods containing 20,000 live seeds across all 10 windows

“It is such an honour to receive these awards; this is a significant acknowledgment for the hard work of our teams. In line with our Good Business Journey, we wanted to create a beautiful backdrop to display our Christmas gifting offering, while reinforcing our brand’s vision for a #zerohunger future, which involves a long-term commitment to help alleviate hunger in South Africa," said Christan Boshoff, Woolworths Visual Merchandising creative director.

"The 20,000 live tree seeds were donated to educational projects where the seeds were germinated and planted to aid the sustainable food production in under-resourced communities."

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Over 450 entries were judged by international industry leaders in this year's Shop! Global Awards.

This is not the first time Woolworths window displays have been recognised abroad. The retailer's Christmas 2018 display won Best Sustainable Display at the Creative Retail Awards in London last year.