With a shortened holiday season and new competition in the marketplace, there was still plenty of cheer as merchants in Downtown Sarasota prepared for the holiday season. A 16-foot tree with 9,000 lights came up in the retail area over the weekend, and holiday decorations are suddenly adorning streetlights.

"We just want to make sure downtown is competitive with what's going on in and around the city," said Ron Soto, chairman of the Sarasota Downtown Merchants Association. "We just want to make downtown look good."

The Downtown Improvement District is also chipping in $4,000 in decorations for the area, according to DID Operations Manager John Moran's most recent eReport on district activity.

That's on top of the $10,000 in new spending the merchants group budgeted this year, which goes to enhance an inventory of decorations and lights already in the association's from past years. Banner lights will soon adorn Palm and Lemon avenues and State Street, with decorative snowflakes and wreaths upon select blocks of Palm.

Coordinating everything in anticipation of the holiday season's official start later this week has been, Soto admits, a logistical nightmare but that goes with the territory. On Dec. 5, a major tree-lighting celebration will be hosted with Santa and Mrs. Claus greeting children and Mattison's running a cash bar for parents and other adults.

Of course, that tree remains smaller than the one in St. Armands Circle, where merchants are also trying to attract consumers during those critical retail weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And that's not counting the push by retailers in the area malls. Westfield will host regular Christmas festivities in its Sarasota malls-Southgate and Sarasota Square-through the holiday season. And at the new $315-million The Mall at University Town Center, a mock ice palace themed after Disney's hit movie Frozen will stand through Christmas Eve.

And then there is the calendar. While that hits all retailers equally, Thanksgiving this year falls late, leaving a shortened retail season. But Soto is confident that won't reduce spending.

"I don't think that will make a difference in the end," he said. "People will be out shopping for Christmas."