Nordstrom has conquered the urge to celebrate Christmas before Thanksgiving. The retailer announced its decision to respect the calendar and common sense by hanging signs declaring that they will wait until the day after Thanksgiving, the earliest acceptable moment, to display their Christmas decorations. The vainglorious announcement is an important indicator that Nordstrom’s competitors have overdone the unseasonable cheerfulness schtick.
[Image thanks to Celeste!]
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This is such a weird cause celebre for the Consumerist to be involved in.
I am sick of Christmas Creep Creep!
Its ten times more annoying than the supposed “Christmas Creep” we are all so farging oppressed by.
Nordstrom sucks.
Thank goodness! Here in Canada I was annoyed as anything that Christmas was going up before Remembrance Day. Hooray for America.
YES!! Everybody needs to do this. I went to the grocery store last weekend and it was sunny and 85 degrees out, and they had friggin christmas music playing. WHY???!!!
@randotheking: You sucks.
This is Nordstroms way of saying that they did not order their Christmas merchandise from the suppliers early enough.
Um, correct me if I’m wrong…
But by the action of hanging a sign that says they aren’t participating in the early commencement of the commercialization of Christmas, Nordstrom actually is participating… ?
@MotherFury: You’re using logical paradoxes to figure out which Consumerist commenters are robots, aren’t you?
If they’re participating, but they say that they refuse to participate, but that means they ARE participating, which means they’re lying, but if they’re lying they aren’t participating and therefore cannot be lying, in which case they ARE partip
COMPUTE ERROR! COMPUTE ERROR! #DIV/0# #ENDLESS RECURSION# COMPUTE ERROR! COMPUTE ERROR!
@MotherFury: As long as they arent playing christmas music with santa signs every 5 feet im ok with it. Its this time of year when i begin to hate christmas music. F’n department stores.
For whatever reason Nordstrom is doing this, it works.
I am already considering them for a couple of my x-mas purchases….not to be made before the 23rd of course.
Nordstrom has never put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. They also have one of the most liberal return policies in retail. They go above and beyond the call of duty for their customers. More stores should model themselves after the Company.
Does this mean that employees of Nordstrom will have to work on Thanksgiving to set up the store for the big Friday opening?
It’s one thing to “do a nice thing.” It’s another thing to trumpet it.
Poorly done, Nordstroms. Poorly done.
“We hate Christmas creep”, “Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, bah”, “hey look a retailer that is waiting to put up decorations …. the bastards”.
You people would bitch you were hung with a new rope.
I am going to make an effort to purchase at least one item from them. Maybe, just maybe other retailers will see that you don’t have to start Christmas before Halloween.
@DallasDMD:
Seconded. Also,
Good for Nordstrom’s !
I think it is a wonderful idea. I have never been to any of their stores because there just aren’t any in my area. However I’m going to make a special trip just to show my appreciation.
Eventually the marketing idiots are never going to take the Christmas stuff down. I resent having Christmas shoved down my throat at any cost. What will they do next year? Just have all of the staff lying prostrate on the ground? Enough is enough.
I am always disappointed how the unwashed masses just buy indiscriminately. By purchasing an item from a store which does not respect its customers you are furthering the problem of bad retailing. Everyone complains about how lousy Wal-mart treats its employees, loots good American jobs, and destroys local economies, and then they load up the SUV, with made in China garbage.
Think before you buy.
i like the hand turkey thing at the bottom
Good for Nordstroms! They’re a little too expensive for my tastes though (No seriously, my college income won’t take me anywhere far anytime now).
Seriously, as much as retailers try to promote Christmas way ahead of time, as to override other holidays, people seriously don’t have money to spend. The economy really sucks right now (relatively speaking, as in prices for everything has gone up to hell and our incomes haven’t matched them for quite a while) and after the loan meltdown, that puts even normally capable people in the hole too. Better keep everything in red and pray for a better economy in due time.
Yay Nordstroms! I know their promoting the fact that they’re not promoting Christmas early is just smooth marketing, but since I agree with it, I don’t mind at all.
Nordstrom is a great place to shop – on par with Costco. Not all stores are bad Carey.
Target has had Christmas stuff up since Sept 1st(card, lights, wreaths), and the big selection of Christmas stuff (trees, ornaments, decorations) went up a week before Halloween. Sad really.
I heart Nordstrom. I went w/a friend to one of their stores recently — he wanted to see if he could get a shoe repaired, that he bought there a couple years ago…the sole split in half. Anyhoo, Nordstrom gave him a brand new pair of shoes, no questions asked, no receipt necessary. I was impressed — it was a $250 pair of shoes…
@loueloui: Funny, I liked working for Wal-Mart. Of course, Oklahoma doesn’t have a Nordstroms. Or a Costco for that matter.
@headon:
No, they didn’t order “early enough.” I’ve seen this sign at Nordstrom the past couple of years.
@Major-General: So, why don’t you work for Wal-Mart anymore?
@zarathustra333: Those are average prices at best.
@zarathustra333:
Do I see spam? KILL IT! YARGGHHHH!
I’m sure all the hyper-aware shoppers on here put a lot of thought into this type of marketing. (That’s why we read blogs like this, right?)
But for the average person, they may see that sign and think… WTF? Why did I see Christmas decorations at Macy’s before Halloween? Some shoppers may be wondering if Nordstrom is anti-Christmas since they don’t have decorations up. This sign clear states their position and their reasoning- which most anyone could agree with.
In my opinion Nordstrom is raising awareness of Christmas creep- commendable indeed!
I wish this was more common. One of the DC radio stations is alreay all Christmas, all the time. It’s just too much
Yay for Nordstrom! I honestly haven’t shopped there for two decades. This might get me back into their stores. (That is, if we had a Nordstrom in our city.)
Did anyone else notice that several stores had mini-black Friday’s at the beginning of November? Creep is awful. Stores are stocking Christmas in the USA before Halloween even. Bleh.
I will shop there just for this… I hate this stores before Christmas.
One more time:
THERE IS NO CHRISTMAS CREEP!
The Christmas holiday retail marketing pattern has been exactly the same forever, IT IS NOT GETTING EARLIER EVERY YEAR.
This is brilliant for Nordstroms.
Wegmans, yes the “venerable” Wegmans, had all of their Xmas stuff up at the front of their stores the first week of October. They had a sign out for a few days (I only saw it once) that said something like they “respect the rights of people to shop early for the holidays” and “apologize for any inconvenience.”
Really?! Who shops for a fake christmas tree and lights on Oct 2nd? WHO?!
Happy Hallothanksgivemas!
@yahonza: My, you must be a young’n. (Or very unobservant). Sorry, but it’s getting earlier. In my youth, Christmas Crap came out around Thanksgiving, and we complained that that was too early. Now, it comes out around Halloween. My calendar tells me that Halloween comes before Thanksgiving.
I was at a new Macy’s in Illinois, and saw Christmas wreaths up in July. No jokes. Good for Nordstrom’s, for refusing to be muscled into Christmas.
Just saw this sign at my local Nordie’s this week – but only as I was walking out. It is just a sign in a couple of windows and is very low-key. They are not at all making a big deal about this. While I was in the store, I *did* notice how nice it was to casually shop around a week before Thanksgiving without being forcibly cheered against my will by obnoxious Christmas music and hideous decorations.
There is Christmas Creep, if you don’t think so you are either asleep or under 25. I heard my dad talking about how new cars used to come out in September, now it is a year round event. I remember when television shows had a definitive season. Now the calendar is just bastardized to increase sales. It is sad our attention spans have gotten so short we can’t remember what happened last week.
Good going Nordstorm.
@yahonza: Um, yeah there is. Not that long ago (like 3 years) nothing christmas happened until Thanksgiving. Now it starts on veterans day, or earlier.
My wife, a european, used to remark that Thanksgiving was great, because Christmas couldn’t start until after it. She is used to it starting arouund the end of october. This year, she noted “Christmas is like at home this year”
Yay. I saw that sign as I entered Nordstrom in Providence RI yesterday. Nice contrast to everywhere else in the mall!
@WorkingOnYourInvoice:
The thing that strikes me as odd was being in Australia for Xmas several years ago and they were playing “White Christmas”!! Who is Oz is looking forward to a white Xmas?
@yahonza: Well, as someone who has worked in retail for much of the past 20 years, I can tell you Christmas Creep most definitely exists. At the store I work at now, we had Christmas stuff out BEFORE the our entire Halloween merchandise was even out on display.
And this happens every year in your memory? Come one, yahonza, how old are you? I’m betting you are under 21.
This is great. I like Nordstroms even better now.
@darkblast93: Ones who does not flag comment spam can’t get in.
The only reason “Christmas Creep” exists is because the stuff actually sells when it gets put out. Retailers want to maximise their profits, and so holiday-related wares are set out far ahead of time.
It might piss-off many consumers, but unless people stop buying Christmas things when they’re set out early, Christmas Creep will be here for the foreseeable future.
It’s all about marketing and economics.
We had xmas forced upon us early because retailers are scared that sales this year will be down due to people not having much for disposable income.
sorry for the crookedness, i had to zoom in and zoom out and happened upon this sign giggled and took a quick click. didnt have time for a redo.
i work at a rival department store, but these are the reasons why i love nordstrom:
1. bloomingdales stock minus the bitchy pretension
2. anniversary sale… booyah!
3. personal hand written thank-you notes mailed to your door whenever you buy something
)
4. insanely generous return policy
@the comedian:
I believe they do have to work on Thanksgiving.
I worked for a rival department store years ago, and oddly enough, was in charge of the christmas department. One day a woman came in, bearing that same advertisement, telling me *I* could learn a lesson or two from Nordstrom’s….I went to my store manager who had worked for Nordstrom’s in the past. Apparently, while all of us who had already decked the halls would be eating turkey, they were decorating….
Now, bear in mind, this was about 12 years ago. Things may have changed…but if they’re still using the same ads, I doubt it.
FYI: Nordstrom, founded in 1901, has been keeping this policy for over 100 years. Go Nordstrom.
@Moneypenny:
i eat lunch almost daily with nordies and can tell u they dont work on thanksgiving nor are they up all night wednesday putting up decorations. however the store opens 7 or 8am the day after. yikes!
Yet another reason to shop at Nordstrom.