Christa Pitts, founder and CEO of The Lumistella Company, which owns the “Elf on a Shelf” line of books and properties, shares her views on expanding during a pandemic, the return to in-person events, and a new deal for shows on Netflix.
Video Transcript
– Christa, thank you so much for joining us. What trends have you been seeing so far this holiday season with your business, and how is this comparing to prior years?
CHRISTA PITTS: It’s been a really positive year. You know, I think when people are hit still with many unknowns, and we’ve got a pandemic that still continues to also be unknown out there, something that feels traditional, something that feels like home is something that resonates with families. And certainly, we’re very excited about how this year has turned out. It’s had its challenges, obviously, given the global supply chain crisis. But I think people, families, they’re very excited to be welcoming Christmas again. And we’re part of that official welcome back to the season.
– It’s always good to have the Lumistella Company here. And we’ve talked about all kinds of issues with you folk, from trade, you know, tariff issues, and then supply chain issues, and of course, the Elf. How do you grow the Elf, the Elf on the Shelf? I mean, we love the family story and then how you turned that into this wonderful business, but does that resonate in different parts of the world? And where are you growing with the Elf?
CHRISTA PITTS: Yeah, you know, it’s interesting, this year has been one a lot of growth. And certainly, the years leading up to this, we did a lot of strategic planning. We rebranded, as you pointed out, to the Lumistella Company, which is a house of global brands. So not only do we have the Elf on the Shelf, which we like to look at as more of our hero brand, but we have the Elf Pets. All of those have their own animated specials. And those are all on Netflix this season.
So we’ve seen a lot of love and excitement around those brands. We’ve been able to grow not only here domestically, but internationally. We are now in over 17 different countries, multiple foreign languages. And then as you’ve talked about, we’ve got live experiences now. We have our animated content running throughout the globe. And we, of course, have already announced our partnership with Netflix for some originals.
So we are really looking at more of an omni way to enjoy your traditions and to embrace Santa’s North Pole and the stories of Santa’s North Pole. And that’s what we’re really about, you know, bringing it beyond just that one touchpoint in your home to create joyful family moments. And the holidays are all about joyful family moments. And so in all the ways that a family engages with either content or products or a tradition, that’s where we want to be. And that’s where we’ve been focused over the past several years.
– Yeah, Christa, talk to us a little bit more about these live experiences. How has that worked, especially with the reopening and with the continuous developments we’ve been getting around the variant? And what have audiences looked like so far?
CHRISTA PITTS: They’ve been, I think, excited to get back to some sense of normalcy, but careful and cautious. So as it pertains to the Elf on the Shelf Magical Journey, which is in both Los Angeles and in the Dallas market this year, we’ve seen really good crowd turnout. You know, families dressed up, children very festive and excited. Obviously, there are protocols in place, just as you might expect for any return to an experience. But both of those are outdoors, which I think gives people some nice comfort in terms of returning to that arena.
And then we also have the Elf on the Shelf Musical that’s back. It had a hiatus last year due to the pandemic. And that one, of course, also has protocols associated with just wearing masks, being smart about each of the venues. And then, of course, obviously we honor the state and local guidance and the CDC guidance, as well.
So it’s a return to Christmas. It’s a return to the holidays. People are excited about it. We were at the musical here in Atlanta on Sunday, and I saw all these little children, their faces lighting up. And they’re singing and they’ve got their plushies and they’re, you know, motioning along with it. So really, it’s nice to see people, families, friends, moments of gathering again.
And then, of course, the tradition itself and many of the traditions that we have as part of our world are done in your home. So it’s any level of comfort that you might have with that as a way for us to engage with you. And that’s a nice part of doing what we do.
– All right, Christa Pitts, founder and CEO of the Lumistella Company, always great having you on.
