Local burger joint Red Cow has always been decorated for the holiday. But this year, the chain’s Uptown location — renamed “Red Nose Room” — has diverted from what owner and president Luke Shimp called a “tasteful amount” of decor to what his decorator Richard Anderson describes as a full-blown “Moulin Rouge in the North Pole.”

Shimp was motivated to go big this year in his Uptown location after the departure of iconic Christmas bars like Mary’s Christmas Palace at Psycho Suzi’s and Miracle at Lawless. When you walk into the Hennepin Avenue joint, you’ll see a large Santa throne with a backdrop and tree garden perfect for a photo op. Ten special drinks on the menu come with their own unique glasses. 

The materials and setup cost around $12,000, Red Cow Shimp told TCB. But is the return making up for the investment?

Absolutely, Shimp said. Daily sales have been up anywhere from 75% to 100% compared to the same time last year. At a recent visit to the restaurant, staff projected as long as 90-minute waits for diners without reservations. “It’s been so busy. It’s just been fascinating.”

The Red Nose Room is just one of many businesses embracing a more holiday-themed space this year. As Stephanie March put it for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine: “Holiday bars are a thing in 2023.” The Grinch’s Lair at Hotel Emery has already sold out, but don’t be discouraged since there are plenty of other places seeping with holiday spirit.

The business of holiday design

Local calls for amped-up holiday designs have been on the rise over the last few years, local design icon Richard Anderson told TCB.  “In the last four years, I’ve doubled the phone calls I get and how many people I can take on,” he said.

With three decades of local style and decor work under his belt, Anderson said even more people have been calling since Psycho Suzi’s and Lawless closed. This season he’s decorated over 40 locations across the Twin Cities metro, and he even has a waiting list for next year as he tries to figure out how to expand his team to fill another 10 or so locations. Each project varies when it comes to the team size needed. For example, a larger job like Red Cow’s Red Nose Room took six people to decorate over about 17 hours.

There’s a large range in price for a business to decorate a space, running anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000, Anderson said. It’s more expensive in a business’s first year because they pay for both the labor and the materials. After take-down at the end of the season, each location is responsible for the storage of its decoration materials, which can also be used in the following year.

Most of the business owners who invested in decor have said the money spent recoups itself from patronage by clientele either coming into a restaurant or bar, or renting space out for events, Anderson said.

Anderson does interior design and outdoor installments for restaurants, businesses, and even luxury homes and Grace Church. Recently he says there’s been a shift in what businesses like restaurants and bars are looking for. They’ve started going bigger and curating space that offers experiences that bring out the kid in every adult who enters their establishment.

Despite the rise in high-decor popularity, if you explore the Cities’ many decorated locations, don’t expect to see the same thing twice. When choosing how to decorate a location, Anderson looks at the color palette and the textiles in the space before designing a look. For example, at The Cove or Gianni, Anderson goes for “winter elegance.” But for Hazelwood Food and Drinks behind Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Anderson went 1960s modern because the architecture lent itself to a mid-century airport feel.

“It’s fun when I find a space that I can say, ‘All right, we’re not going classic beautiful. We’re going to have a little bit of fun with it,’” he said.

Every project is unique, and Anderson said doesn’t have a favorite. “I had a hell of a time doing Red Cow going so campy and kitschy, but then I also really had a great time doing Hazelwood. I got to do a 1960s mod feel–orange, fuchsia, apple green, and burgundy, which is not something you get to do very often. I don’t have a favorite. I think whatever I’m doing that day is my favorite.”

Stop stealing cups 

While the decorations have paid off, Shimp said he’s running into one major problem at the Red Nose Room. People have been stealing the unique glassware used for specialty drinks. A special tiki cup can run $10 to $12 apiece. That’s a cost that’s hard to recoup for a local business. Shimp doesn’t want to raise drink prices to compensate for this. Some pop-ups take people’s IDs to ensure the return of cups, but Shimp said he doesn’t want to add that extra logistical component either.

All in all, though, Shimp isn’t deterred, and he’s already thinking about expanding next year. Luckily for him, Anderson, too, already has some ideas to enhance interactive experiences in the Red Nose Room, including Christmas karaoke in the throne “where you have to sit in (Santa’s chair) and sing really bad Christmas songs.”