Cyndy Lester usually starts panicking in September.

That’s when the Lawrence artist realizes she only has a few more weeks to invent something bold enough to stop holiday shoppers in their tracks outside of Weaver’s Department Store.

Lester is the shop’s visual merchandising director, which is a fancy way of saying she does its window displays. It’s a tall order. Weaver’s boasts 17 windows and resides on Lawrence’s busiest thoroughfare for window shopping.

Every three weeks, Lester reinvents the spaces with mannequins, backdrops, props and merchandise. But she does her most important work this time of year.

“We really go all out for the holidays,” says Lester, who is technically a part-time employee. “When I’m getting ready for the Christmas windows, I work full-time. In fact, I work about 14 hours a day.

“Usually I’m really rushed. This year I was really fortunate in that I got inspired fairly early, which gave me quite a bit of time, and I think it shows. These are some of the best windows I’ve ever done.”

Her muses this season were color and nature. Sheets of copper metallic fringe hang floor to ceiling in the windows at Weaver’s, 901 Mass., and gleaming suspended letters spell out words like “joy” and “peace.” There are surprises for those who stop and spend some time looking, she says, like a handful of mice figurines nesting in a coat.

Retailers bank on that surprise factor in their windows, especially during the holiday shopping season, when many do a large percentage of their annual business. And with consumers spending more than ever on holiday gifts – up from $740 in 2005 to $800 this year, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation – they’re all looking for their share of the wealth.

‘Really eye-catching’

But it’s not all about money. It’s also about magic.

And the “wow factor,” says Mark Swanson, owner of Hobbs, 700 Mass. “Retailing is as much entertaining to us as it is buying stuff.”

Hobbs takes the window dressing game a step further than most, letting the theme du jour spill from the facade into the shop – even dictating some of the merchandise for sale. This year, the store is celebrating a “Carney Christmas,” with Coney Island-inspired carnival curtains and fun house doorways painted on the windows, and a giant, floating fortune-teller’s head on the door.

The windows at Weaver's Department Store, 901 Mass., glow in the early evening, illuminating the glitzy holiday display created by Lawrence artist Cyndy Lester as a shopper looks over some items for sale during the Christmas season.

Customers walk through his mouth to enter the store.

And once inside, they encounter toys, Christmas ornaments, clothing and decor inspired by the carnival experience.

“We even have the KU Juggling Club down on Saturdays,” Swanson says.

Lawrence artist Toni Brou used acrylics to paint directly on the windows. She also made a sign with a clown head that reads “Carney Christmas” for above the door.

“It looks pretty good so far,” she says. “I used rollers and foam brushes. I went down there on a few nice days and … I had a little bit of an audience for a while.

“I think it’s really eye-catching, especially since they’re on the corner right there. It seems like people like it. When I was finishing up, someone actually honked at me and hung out of the car and said, ‘I like what you’re doing there.'”

Power of persuasion

Of course, the ultimate goal is to lure people inside to spend money. Margaret Warner, owner of The Toy Store, 936 Mass., says window displays are one of the most effective forms of advertising for retailers.

For that reason, some have perfected strategies that go beyond simply putting together a pretty scene.

“One of the things I try to do is make sure that whenever we put characters, like dolls or stuffed animals, in the window that their eyes can make contact with human eyes,” Warner says. “There is some kind of powerful connection there when people can really relate to the toys or products they’re looking at.”

Mark Swanson, owner of Hobbs, 700 Mass., stands outside the store, where the facade has taken on a carnival atmosphere for the holiday shopping season. Inspired by old Coney Island postcards, Lawrence artist Toni Brou painted the shop's windows to reflect the theme Carny

The store also tries to make its windows inclusive, reflecting people of various ages and ethnicities.

This year’s theme, “Classic Toys,” capitalizes on a sense of nostalgia, incorporating old favorites like a red metal Radio Flyer wagon, wooden Tinker Toys and a wooden Thomas the Train set motoring around the base of a Christmas tree.

“We specialize in classic toys, so that seemed fitting for our Christmas window,” Warner says. “We have also had some circus windows, and we did a huge ‘Sesame Street’ window when the show celebrated its 20th anniversary.”

The store has even won a couple of national window decorating contests sponsored by the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association.

Night lights

Back at Weaver’s, Cyndy Lester not only designs and executes the windowscapes – often crafting items from scratch to fit her themes, like the papier-mâche rocks in this year’s holiday display – but she’s also responsible for keeping them clean and otherwise maintained.

She says she occasionally drives past the store and notices a problem, like the time a mannequin’s wig was on backward. So during the holiday season – a nerve-wracking one for Lester – she asks all store employees to stay out of the windows. And if there is a glitch?

“I’m on call the month of December,” she says.

Lots of positive feedback has been flowing in about her latest windows, Lester says, but she has a tip for those who still want to check them out: Go at night.

“That’s when they really shine,” she says.