👟 St. Nicholas Day (December 6): The Power of a Small, Consistent Tradition

Ryan Thompson
2 days ago
2 min read

Before Christmas morning, before trees and wrapping paper, there’s St. Nicholas Day - December 6.

Rooted in the life of St. Nicholas, a 3rd-century bishop known for quiet, anonymous generosity, this tradition was never meant to be loud. In many families, children leave their shoes out overnight and wake up to something simple - candy, chocolate coins, oranges - a small reminder that kindness doesn’t need spectacle.

It’s important to differentiate St. Nicholas Day from Christmas:

St. Nick (Dec 6): simple, intentional, recurring
Christmas (Dec 25): celebratory, abundant, expansive

Different days. Different roles. Same core value.

🍬 A “Mini” Holiday With Real Numbers

Let’s be conservative.

The U.S. has roughly 128 million households. Even if we assume just 10 million households observe some version of St. Nicholas Day — less than 8% of homes — the math becomes interesting.

Using very modest assumptions:

2 children per household
~$5 in candy or small treats per child

That’s $10 per household.

Now scale it:

10 million households × $10 ➡️ ~$100 million spent on candy and small treats — quietly, predictably, every December 6.

No toys. No major retail campaigns. Just shoes, tradition, and consistency.

📊 The Business Lesson Hidden in the Tradition

St. Nicholas didn’t show up once. He showed up every year.

That’s the lesson companies often overlook:

Consistency beats grand gestures
Small, reliable touchpoints build trust
Recurring value compounds quietly - until the numbers add up

Whether it’s customer communication, retention, subscriptions, or culture, the models that endure look far more like St. Nicholas Day than Christmas morning. Just ask Elf on the shelf... The Coca-Cola Company or HARIBO of America, Inc.

✨ A Simple Year-End Reminder

St. Nicholas Day isn’t for everyone - and it doesn’t need to be. Its strength lies in recurrence, not scale. People remember who shows up consistently, even in small ways.

As we head into year-end planning and next-year strategy, it’s a good reminder: You don’t always need to be bigger. You need to be reliable.

Happy St. Nicholas Day - December 6. 👟🍊 May your shoes, calendars, and strategies be filled just enough to keep people coming back.

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Originally posted on the #LinkedInomics, here.