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Editorial: A Holiday Stress Buster | November 15, 2010 (0 comments)
Philadelphia, PA—Joyful as it is for jewelers to engage in their customers’ happiest moments—becoming engaged, selecting a baby gift, or choosing the perfect holiday gift to express their emotions—we know the holiday season also gets harried and hectic.
But sometimes the best motivation for the day comes not from a pumped-up training session, but rather from a simple unexpected joy that elevates the mood and translates into natural unaffected warmth and enthusiasm on the sales floor. That, more than anything, is what comes across to shoppers.
On October 30, precisely at noon, more than 650 voices broke into song in the Grand Hall of Macy’s in Philadelphia. Part of the Random Acts of Culture, a program designed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia together with more than 30 local choirs mingled among shoppers until the famed Wanamaker pipe organ suddenly burst forth with the opening notes of the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. What followed was one of those “wow” moments that is truly awe-inspiring.
Macy’s currently occupies the old John Wanamaker department store, believed to be the first department store in the United States. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also houses the largest (and most magnificent-sounding) pipe organ in the world. With a nod to InStore magazine’s annual “Cool Stores” issue, this is a pretty cool store.
The Grand Hall of Macy's in Center City Philadelphia, originally the flagship John Wanamaker department store, houses the largest pipe organ in the world.
The Random Acts of Culture program is committed to bringing artists out of performance halls and into the streets as a reminder of how the classical arts enrich lives. Over the course of three years, performances such as this one—albeit perhaps not always on such a grand scale—will be sure to surprise and delight those who happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Whatever your faith, the joy of music is universal, and even more so when it’s a completely unexpected gift. Here’s the link. It’s worth watching with your staff for a morning pick-me-up. Here’s to a happy season worth singing about!