You see, this is leftover from last year's Christmas.

That is clearly the previous model of tabletop carousel, lol.

Christmas started months ago! Get with it, Consumerists!

Only lame people shop like a month before the actual holiday!

Lowes isn't exactly a a discount retailer and they were just resetting the displays for their Christmas section when I was there on Sunday. It's going to be a long desperate Christmas season for retailers. Now give me a 20% off special order replacement windows sale please.

I saw Christmas crap filling the shelves at Dollar Tree last month. Next stop, Black Friday happening just before Columbus Day. Oh wait, that's Walmart's plan.

I'd like to be able to embiggen the photo, but it looks like the fine print says "off competitor's prices something something something", so I'm not really getting "clearance" from this.

@larrymac: That's a perfectly cromulent sign.

Nothing says Christmas like tacky lead tainted stuff made by Chinese prison labor you can get in September!

Big Lots sell it when they get it.

Sorry, no news here. Time to move on.

Now if ya wanna bytch about Big Lots selling expired Halloween Candy then give me a shout out.

@Wombatish:
You just made me laugh my ass off for the first time today!

I hate when these stores say 40-60% off and the item actually becomes more expensive than it originally is.

:) anyway with Christmas coming very soon, it is essential that people get their supplies and decorate their homes because last minute shoppers will be stuck weighting in lines all day. :)

@larrymac: Loading the source image alone in a separate window [cache.gawker.com] yields a slightly larger and clearer version.

Looks like "Off Competitor's Prices. Priced as Marked."

(A noble source embiggens the smallest JPEG.)

I'm proud to say that my synagogue's gift shop doesn't have any Christmas products on display...yet.

Isn't that big-lots business...selling merchandise that other retailers no longer want, such as last years Christmas stuff? I've seen pool toys at big-lots in the middle of the winter, big deal.

@The_Legend: Walmarts in my area has Christmas stuff out in late July.

Usually they wait until August but not this year.

@Vandelay Import Export: That's Chinese Prison Child Labor, thankyouverymuch!

Sheesh!

Who is this Mr. Christmas and what does he do?

@LastError: That's Chinese Prison Child Slave Labor, FTW.

We were watching TV and a commercial for Macy's 1-Day sale came on. It seems as if they're having at least one 1-Day sale every month, and I turned to Mr. Pi and said, "it's time to start Christmas shopping."

First, I love saving money. Macy's 1-Day sales are actually very good deals, depending on what you buy.

Second, I love Christmas, and I even enjoy shopping at the mall during Christmas, smooshed like a pimply teen's interpretation of the Big Mac. But I want to do it once, and get that giddy feeling out of my system. I don't want to go back twice or more just to finish my shopping.

@lockdog:

Lowes had it right last year. I walk in on (Fir?) they had signs saying 50% off all Christmas stuff. DEC 2! I was like Ya (My ex took/sold/did something with all the stuff). I spent about $100 that day and got everything my little one would like (and me). 2 weeks before Christmas 75% off, Super Target next door 50%, I was told the day after 90% (Super Target), hide some light. Walk in the day after got them for $1.10 each.

I used to work in the internet and this was over for us by July. Keep in mind we did the websites and BD for them site. Still.

On a side note, where is the HW stuff?

@H3ion: Ha! That made me smile. :)

I would like to know if this is the rather ghetto Big Lots on Sterling or the much nicer one on Knoxville?

Not that I'm going to either, but I still want to know!

@Razor512: Closeout stores quite often embellish the "was/compared to/they sold it for" price. Quite often the actual selling price isn't much less than everywhere else.

Christmas season always starts when school begins. That's when the Wishbook came out when I was a kid at least. I thought it was a way to cheer up children who were depressed that they were back in school.

I worked in a Pool Store that sold fake trees and Christmas stuff in the winter, the trucks would start coming in around late August, this was about 9 or 10 years ago.

I'm just curious what is going to happen to retailers when Christmas profits are dismal. I suspect there will be another round of business failures.