Take a Look Inside the Workshop Known for Turning Holiday Windows Into Spectacles

Every year by mid-November retailers reveal—with ever-increasing pomp and circumstance—their holiday displays, hoping consumers will journey to the stores to see the windows in person. For thousands of families, going to see the windows is a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

The investment makes sense for retailers: The holiday season rings up a quarter of annual sales, and window displays influence about 24 percent of people who see them to make purchases, according to NPD Group. But what, exactly, goes into making these elaborate window displays? 

This fall we got to take a look inside Spaeth Design—one of the best-known names in a small but critical cottage industry of firms that decorate and design department store windows for the holidays. At the time, it was prepping displays for Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, and Macy's. 

Take a look at our video above the story as CEO and founder David Spaeth walks us through the massive workshop in Queens, New York.