Reader James says he spotted this Christmas-themed wrapping paper lurking on the top shelf at Walgreens, waiting to strike…
Most agree that AFTER Thanksgiving should be the start of the CHRISTMAS season, but this idea has been lost on retail for a long, long time.
I spotted this wrapping paper at Walgreens, and although its on the unreachable top shelf and probably just overflow from the stock room, I definitely think it qualifies.
Christmas Creep at Walgreens [FutureGringo]
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It’s Walgreens, which mean it was left-over from last season. Or who knows how many seasons….?!
Today I saw a multi-aisle Halloween display at Stop & Shop. I thought that that was way too premature.
Ok, the “christmas season” to me, begins after thanksgiving. What I define as Christmas Season is all the sales on various stuff. Half off here, 30% off there. Maybe buy one get one every so often.
Christmas Decorations don’t count, since if you’re smart, you’ll have gotten the decorations before Thanksgiving.
I’m not seeing any “Christmas sales”. All I’m seeing is a bunch of decorations going on sale early. You buy them now and then have less to worry about then the actual season starts.
This isn’t really a bad thing and in fact it’s a SMART thing to do IMO. I don’t think it belongs here with the true evils of the world…Comcast and airlines and things like that.
@oldscud: @Uptowngirl: Nothing says that our website is old and tiresome like comments that are also old and tiresome (and against the rules)?
I have no probem what so ever with Christmas merchandise being on the shelves in August. Maybe I did before I worked retail, but then I quickly realized that more than 50% of a retail business’s profits occure in fourth quarter alone. So why not get a head start? If people are willing to buy it, so be it. For a lot of people out there, it’s simply fun for them to get excited over Christmas “stuff”. So, what’s the harm?
I have boxes of 2009 Wall Calendars already sitting in my warehouse for distribution to customers. I guess I should have waited until late in December to order the calendars just in case somebody decided to change the dates or months in 2009.
Outside of Halloween candy, who cares if the stuff is sitting on a shelf?
I used to work for the Hobby Lobby chain, and we started putting out Christmas ribbon in early July — reason: we had so much Christmas stuff to put out on the shelves, we had to start in July to get it all out in time for Christmas itself. It’s not a capitalist subversion of the reason for the season, it’s a logistics vs man-hours issue.
How does Christmas stuff being out on the shelves negatively affect the consumer whatsoever?
@unpolloloco: It really doesn’t. I guess the thing is that they’re putting christmas stuff out early, which happens with most holidays (I’ve seen stuff out for easter in january)
@jamesdenver: We think alike. I’ve posted before that the year has to have (for me at least) a flow to it. I don’t like Christmas Creep because it kinda robs a bit of the anticipation of Halloween and Thanksgiving. For example, right now I’m really getting geared up for the start of football season this weekend. Once that gets going, I look forward to Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. It builds, like a good song.
BUY BUY BUY! BUY!! BUY!!! Why aren’t you buying? You should be buying. Right now. From us. Don’t you care about Christmas? You don’t want everything to run out do you?
This is disgusting, and inappropriate. Why don’t they just shake you by your ankles when you walk in the door?
@loueloui: Again, they’re only decorations. Some people like to be prepared and get the decorations done ahead of time.
I don’t get the big deal about the Christmas Creep. All of the posts I’ve seen so far have been stores putting up decorations. *shrugs* Like I said, how many people decorate for halloween and thanksgiving?
@Git Em SteveDave displays attention-grabbing vanity:
friendly walgreens employee chiming in….in most districts if the item is out on the sales floor then it must be have the price displayed on it. Most stores won’t receive their full Christmas trucks until the end of September to mid October. Walgreens ship each store a separate “Christmas Only” truck to each store, with some things filling in space on current trucks.
i was pleasantly suprised to see halloween stuff out in august, i love halloween. but im going to be sick of christmas by thanksgiving.
i think people just get annoyed with the whole ” you need to buy this ” mood pushed on them for months at a time. guilting them into buying their children excessive amounts of toys and making them feel bad for not buying everyone at work some stupid trinket.
I start rereading my Martha Stewart Christmas back issues in July. I hate the summer so I welcome Halloween and Christmas decorations in the summer as a reminder that this god awful season will soon be over and fall is on its way.
Well Christmas season does start for me after the thanksgiving holiday, however all my Christmas shopping is done before labor day (unless it’s something that comes out after video games, toys ..etc) that way I can relax and enjoy the time instead of running around trying to find the best deals here or there.
@novelgirl:
Actually, QVC had Christmas in July well….back in July for a full 24 hours. They do it every year. Scary, but it’s probably a big moneymaker for them.@novelgirl: