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#Post#: 16689--------------------------------------------------
I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Amara Date: October 20, 2018, 7:29 pm
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This morning, I decided to drive out to our big box mall where
chain stores and restaurants surround a massive parking lot. I
wanted to see if Pier One and Home Goods had anything
interesting related to autumn/Thanksgiving to browse. When I
walked in to both stores I was stunned to see that there was far
more Christmas stuff than anything else. I continued to walk
around but was utterly dismayed to see Santas, trees, glittery
decor, dishware, and god knows what else stuffed onto shelves
and piled into any available nook. It's ten days before
Halloween and you wouldn't know it.
I know everyone (else) knows this but I only occasionally browse
stores since I am not a fan of just shopping for fun. I don't
mind going to a store for a particular item and while I am there
I will look around a few departments but spending hours going
from one department to another and one store to another is not
for me. I burn out quickly.
For those who do enjoy it I have in the past been amused by
complaints about Christmas creep. I never saw it. Alas, today
was a rude awakening. And I hated it. It is so easy to see why
people feel negatively about Christmas retail practices. I felt
it myself. So I won't go back; I'll simply fulfill my gift
buying online. (I have to say that I do plan to participate
fully in my town's festivities, which include a very lighted up
downtown, small local stores that have fun things, singers,
events, and more. But that is different than seeing a huge
store's inventory set up two months in advance.)
#Post#: 16701--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: RubyCat Date: October 20, 2018, 9:14 pm
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I agree with you. The Christmas Season seems to lose something
special when it is extended for so long.
My father's family was very strict Catholic and the Christmas
tree did not go up until all the children had gone to be on
Christmas Eve. I can recall going to Catholic school and as we
practiced singing Christmas carols, the nuns would remind us
that we were still in Advent and Christmas carols were really
not supposed to be sung until Christmas Eve. That seemed extreme
to me but the Christmas Season did seem more special when only
celebrated for the 12 days of Christmas. It almost feels like
we dilute it by spreading it out for weeks and now months.
I'm really not a Christmas person, for may reasons that I
wouldn't want to get into here, but I confess that I am
nostalgic for a shorter, more meaningful season.
#Post#: 16703--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: lakey Date: October 20, 2018, 10:25 pm
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It's especially annoying if you need to buy something for autumn
or Thanksgiving and it is difficult to find much at all, much
less a variety of choices, because everything has been pushed
aside for Christmas stuff.
#Post#: 16715--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Thitpualso Date: October 21, 2018, 9:23 am
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One of our major commercial streets even has the Christmas
lights up.
#Post#: 16718--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Lilac Date: October 21, 2018, 10:01 am
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Blaming (& boycotting) the stores for selling Christmas
merchandise in October is like blaming newspapers for printing
bad news.
Retailers wouldn't offer seasonal goods this early if consumers
weren't buying them. Some people are really into it and start
planning their decor/gifts/meals etc. in the middle of the
summer; they are happy to be able to purchase merchandise this
early. It's not my cup of tea, but I don't presume to judge.
I saw my first Halloween decoration -- a witch on a bicycle --
on someone's front lawn September 15. To each their own. I
certainly wouldn't expect a business to forego income just to
appease people who think "the season is too long."
#Post#: 16722--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: TeamBhakta Date: October 21, 2018, 10:39 am
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I'm not trying to be rude when I say this. But if you rarely
visit a particular store to begin with, it seems strange to say
"I am refusing to go back because you put out holiday items too
early for my taste." That's like the random customers who tell
me "When did you get rid of (items not sold in a decade) and why
did you rearrange the store (several years ago)? Well, I don't
think I'll shop here again then!" I say that as someone whose
job is to hand out food samples, demonstrate random gadgets &
get customers thinking "Oh yeah, I should test this casserole on
my family at home first, before I attempt a large batch for the
holidays." If the store waited until Christmas proper to put out
Christmas stuff, our customers would say "I wish I'd known about
the expensive stuff in advance, so I could have saved up for it
/ bought it before it completely sold out a week before
Christmas" (for example, every knucklehead who complains on July
4th "why are you out of my favorite chips, you'll ruin my
cookout")
*ETA: A lot of my customers tell me "Hey, remember when you made
(random recipe) in the spring / summer ? We started making it
once a week for our family dinners. And now we use it for
holidays, too."
#Post#: 16731--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Rose Red Date: October 21, 2018, 12:41 pm
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Retailers order seasonal stuff around six months in advance.
They probably don't have space "in the back" so they put it out
early to save storage space for the year round merchandise and
for the early shoppers.
I actually think it's funny seeing Christmas stuff in October.
Nobody is forcing me to buy early, but in fact, I'm eyeing an
ornament that I may buy sometime this week or next. I don't have
to fear they will run out because, well, it's too soon for
Christmas :D
People also like to buy a little at a time. I feels easier to
spend a little a week then hundreds all at once.
#Post#: 16740--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Bales Date: October 21, 2018, 2:50 pm
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It's not just Christmas. I saw the first Halloween displays in
August.
I don't think the newspaper analogy quite fits here, though.
News happens regardless, but retail is more supply/demand. I
can't really tell if stores put out items early due to consumer
preference or if consumers have just grown used to shopping
earlier due to stores having items out sooner. Chicken or egg?
#Post#: 16741--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: sandisadie Date: October 21, 2018, 3:23 pm
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My point of view of Christmas stuff out months before is that if
the stores didn't put it out to begin with then people wouldn't
be buying it way before Christmas. I'm old enough (80) to
remember very well when Christmas was barely thought of until
after Thanksgiving. I don't agree that it's a chicken and egg
thing - I think it's the retailers who started the trend and
continue to build on it. I hate going into Walmart in Sept. and
seeing Christmas decor for sale.
#Post#: 16745--------------------------------------------------
Re: I Get It Now. I Really Get It.
By: Lilac Date: October 21, 2018, 4:43 pm
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So you think retail companies have some sort of obligation or
responsibility to regulate consumers' shopping habits and
timing? I find that bizarre.
Retailers would not be displaying merchanidse early if there
were not an appetite for it. I can go online and order
Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July goods etc. year-round let
alone a couple of months in advance. Why shouldn't bricks &
mortar companies compete as best they can?
In Joann's the other day I saw several ladies with all of the
supplies to make Christmas wreaths -- should they have to wait
till Dec 1 to do their craft, just to appease people with an
old-fashioned notion that "holidays start too early"? I was in
the Yankee Candle store last weekend -- thanks to their having
their holiday scents in early, I was able to use a coupon and
snap up the candles I use at Christmas, plus the gift scents I
traditionally give to friends and to service providers like the
people in my veterinarian's office. Now I won't have to make
another trip to that mall until probably March. Would you have
me be unable to purchase those gifts, and waste another Sunday
at the mall in the thick of the holiday season, just to appease
some sort of abstract notion about when holiday merchandise
should/should not appear?
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