Planning Our First Winter Holiday Season

We're deep in research mode, considering where Myriad fits into San Diego's holiday shopping this year.

Trend data, cohort research, cultural stories are genuinely useful for a small business trying to plan ahead. But they can also be a lot. It's easy to drown in "insights" that feel important but don't actually tell you what to do or inspire practical ideas. So we're trying to be selective: pulling out research that's specific enough to act on, and leaving the rest.

One report that cleared that bar: Meltwater's 2026 Black Friday/Cyber Monday consumer trends analysis, published August 21 — which, notably, is genuinely good timing. Most retail planning cycles start ramping up in August and September, so having a full year of shopper-behavior data land right when lean teams like ours are actually mapping out the season is more useful than it might sound.

Remember when Black Friday made you think about amazing midnight sales on coveted electronics? We wish we could get 80% off a tv.

A few things shaping our thinking:

Price still matters most — but it's not the entire story these days

Meltwater's analysis (5.67 million posts, tracked August 2025 through July 2026) found price integrity remains the single biggest source of shopper complaints overall, at around 30%.

But where you look changes what you see: on Bluesky specifically, over half of negative posts (55.2%) were about boycotting or anti-consumption altogether, not pricing.

That's the audience we're most curious about. People who are actively choosing to buy less, but still want to mark the holidays, are exactly who a small local maker can serve well — repairing, refreshing, or personalizing something someone already owns instead of selling them something new:

• Etching a fresh design onto a well-loved metal water bottle instead of replacing it

• New stickers or a small refresh on a bag, tumbler, or tool someone already owns

• Small custom touches on gifts people are already planning to give

Delivery problems spike hard in December.

The same research found delivery and fulfillment complaints jump from just 3% during Black Friday peak week to 18.7% by December — and separately, delivery and fulfillment was the single largest complaint category in product reviews specifically, at 64.3%. Big retailers struggle with December delivery every year. As a small, local maker, we don't have to.

Here's what we're planning:

• Having stock ready at fall markets — something to walk away with same-day, not a "check back in two weeks" situation

• Partnering with other local vendors — adding a Myriad touch to what they're already selling, rather than competing for the same table

• Local delivery for last-minute needs — if a gift or an event snuck up on you, we'd rather be the answer than another delayed package

• Party rental gear as a backup option — if something's missing for an event that's already tomorrow, we may have exactly what you need on hand

People trust other shoppers more than they trust brands.

One more finding worth sitting with: in Meltwater's sample, shopper-to-shopper recommendations made up 38.2% of positive posts, compared to just 5% for a brand's own customer service. Good word of mouth carries more weight than anything we could say about ourselves — which is exactly why we want to hear from you directly.

How we're trying to ease that tension, locally

Reading the research is one thing. Acting on it locally is the part we actually care about.

So this season, we're reaching out to condo communities and HOAs in downtown San Diego — Marina, Gaslamp, and Little Italy in particular — to let folks know: we can make custom gifts featuring their own photos, their kids, their grandkids, their pets. No bulk order required, no minimum to hit. Just a single, thoughtful piece, priced fairly because it's one piece, not a batch.

Our thinking: holiday gift planning can be genuinely stressful, especially when it feels like everything meaningful comes with a catch — a big order, a long wait, a big-box process that doesn't feel personal at all. We want the opposite of that. Someone helping you plan something specific, with plenty of lead time, that doesn't have to feel last-minute even if you're just now thinking about it.

We're also considering holiday workshops in late November and early December, so people can come make something themselves — hands-on, unhurried, with us in the room to help. More details on dates and locations soon.

If you're part of a condo association or HOA in Marina, Gaslamp, Little Italy, or anywhere else in San Diego, we'd love to hear from you — for events, rentals, or custom gifts for your residents. Reach out anytime.

What we're still figuring out

• What trinkets and made items are people actually drawn to this year?

• What does our local audience want, beyond what we assume they want?

• How do we reach the right customers as we head into our first holiday season?

Inspired by your ideas

Drop a comment — what would you want if you were shopping local in San Diego this holiday season? Are you a last-minute shopper, or do you keep a stash of greeting cards and small gifts on hand for the birthday or event that suddenly showed up on your calendar?

Sources we're reading:

Meltwater: Black Friday and Cyber Monday Consumer Trends 2026