Shopper criticises Rimi's national holiday displays; retailer points to its own publications
A Rimi customer complained on social media that the store's offering for Latvia's November national holidays looked modest. Opinions in the discussion were split, while the company has already published a guide on celebrating in red-white-red at home this year.
A shopper at the Latvian retail chain Rimi has criticised on social media what she sees as a too modest selection for Latvia's November national holidays: Lāčplēsis Day on 11 November and the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia on 18 November. Her post sparked a debate on whether stores should do more to decorate for these occasions and whether patriotic holidays should become a commercial season.
The criticism
The photo attached to the post shows a red-white-red stand with sweets, ribbons, small flags and other items. The author says the store carefully marks Halloween and the approaching Christmas, yet the display for Latvia's holidays seems much weaker. She cites other retail chains where she noticed a broader or more eye-catching national theme. She stresses that her point is not about buying as many patriotic items as possible, but about the feeling that store decor creates.
Commenters' views
Not everyone agreed. One commenter noted that a store's job is to make a profit and that goods are placed accordingly. Others asked whether national holidays need to become commercial events at all. Questions were also raised about demand – how many people actually decorate their homes for the holidays – and about decorations that would have to be taken down and stored until next year. Some commenters said they had noticed a patriotic mood in other shops; one shopper singled out the building-supplies store Depo, which in her view was decorated with Latvian flags.
The company's publications
Rimi has not ignored the holidays: on 3 November it published an article on its website titled "Red-white-red breakfasts, lunches and a festive cake". In it, Inga Akmentiņa-Smildziņa, an expert at "Rimi Bērniem", encourages people to use red-white-red candles, flowers, napkins, fruit and Latvian traditional patterns at home. Last November the company also published a piece called "Red-white-red November". The dispute is therefore not about whether Rimi marks the holidays, but about how visible they are in stores and how wide the product range is.
