Larry received this e-mail, with the subject line "HO-HO-HO...Black Friday Starts Today."

No. It doesn't. Sears, you're doing it very, very wrong.

RELATED:
POLL: When Is Too Early For Christmas Creep?
Hobby Lobby Worships The Great Pumpkin With Halloween Tree
Kmart Launches Christmas Site In July

As a follow-up to the Starbucks post, we received a couple emails from employees who told us that Starbucks begins using the red cups typically on the first Tuesday of November, but doesn't start offering the peppermint mocha and all that stuff until later-November 17, according to one tipster.

(Photo: TMQ.st.louis)

Looking back through the site and our tipline, we have a couple of data points for when Starbucks first rolls out the Christmas stuff:

An unposted email from last year has a reader who found holiday-themed cups and music at Starbucks on the 4th. He asked the barista if she thought it was weird, and was told they had just rolled out the Christmas cheer that day.

Two years ago, we posted that Starbucks was using the Christmas goods on November 8th.

That's a little earlier each year. Although they're different stores and there's no indication that the day they were spotted is the day they were rolled out, we're assuming that people who visit coffee shops probably do so pretty regularly, and would have noticed and written in earlier if they'd seen Christmas creep earlier. Starbucks is a big chain, so if we can get some more data from other years and stores, maybe we could eventually track Christmas Creep, a la the Big Mac Index. So, readers, if you have any definite dates for when you've seen Christmas creep at Starbucks from past years or this year, or if you can remind yourself to check things out at the end of next October, send in your findings.

Okay, as holiday mashups go, this one actually makes more sense than the Halloween tree.

No-Bake Halloween Haunted House Kit [Williams-Sonoma]

It's particularly ironic coming from Hallmark, a company that debuts its Christmas ornament collection around the time that school lets out for the summer.

If this came out as an actual Christmas card, I would purchase it to send to carefully selected friends and family.

Chuck & Beans [Shoebox Blog] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

Tim says:

For goodness sakes, we're not past Thanksgiving yet! I love Christmas specials, but they're best saved for December.

We aren't even past Halloween yet.

That means shoppers will see more gingerbread houses and peppermint crunch cookies, and fewer exotic teas and flavored olive oils; classic ball ornaments instead of offbeat cowboys or cartoon-themed character figures; and an emphasis on simple festive wear like shimmery tops instead of elaborately beaded gowns.

Traditional Christmas colors — red, green and gold — are also back.

That's a big departure from recent years when stores pushed the whimsical and splashy, from the upside-down Christmas tree fad in 2007 to stockings adorned with mermaids and elephants.

Business Week notes that Saks Fifth Avenue is offering an in-house line of cheaper Christmas ornaments to lure in customers who can't afford the crazy expensive Christopher Radko ones, and Home Shopping Network is pushing modest indoor decorations instead of inflatable lawn crap.

If this is what a recession does to one of the tackier holidays of the year, then thank you recession, here's a candy cane.

"Recession-stung stores plan old-fashioned holidays" [Associated Press via Business Week]
(Photo: albany_tim)

Christmas creep in craft stores isn't normally worth a second glance. After all, if you want to finish your cross-stitched stockings and penguin-festooned potholders in time for December, you need to get started early.

But this tree is different somehow.

It's seasonally appropriate, but also not.

We're confused.

Jake says:

So I was shopping for groceries the other day at my local krogers in Lebanon ohio, when I noticed that they were all ready putting up Christmas creep as of September 30th. What's worse was I could hear Christmas tunes playing over the Muzak. What has this country turned into?

(Photo:u2acro)

Drop your suggestions in the comments or email them to tips@consumerist.com with "Holiday Headaches" in the subject. We'll round up your answers and turn them into a poll! Yay, polls!

Please be specific. If you're annoyed by website prices not matching the in-store prices, or one particular retailer's marketing practices, say so! The more specific you can be, the better our poll will be. So, tell us, what needs to change about shopping at the holidays?

(Photo:balmes)

Are those Santa hats getting you in the mood for some tasty smokes? And maybe some gum afterward so your breath doesn't smell like a Saint Nick-plundered chimney.

Matt says:

These photos were taken last night (24 Sept 2009) at the Lowe's in Alexandria, VA. The indoor photo even shows a manger scene displayed next to a grim reaper riding a car (top shelf, on right of photo).

By the way, this store provides excellent customer service and the staff have always been very helpful with great advice on various projects.

Well, yay for good customer service, but we sort of miss Halloween and Thanksgiving. Don't you?

The group is battling an environment where, much as in the U.S., retailers are stretching out the season in hopes that cash-strapped shoppers will open their wallets. A spokesman for a chain store told the Mail, "With only three more [monthly] pay days until Christmas, many of our customers have started their festive shopping earlier than ever in a bid to spread the costs this year."

The anti-creep activists haven't taken kindly to messages like that, and have warned retailers not to sell holiday-related items until November — or else:

Last month the group glued shut the door of a shop run by Mind, the mental health charity. The manager of the shop in Leeds, who asked not to be named, said: "A man phoned and said our lock had been glued because we were selling Christmas cards far too early. He said if we pass the shop and we see you are still selling Christmas cards we will glue the lock up until the cards are removed. We have removed our current Christmas cards sales display for the moment. This is great pity as we have been selling off last year's stock and making £70 a week for charity."

As much as we sympathize with the Movement's goals, they'd be a lot more successful if they were a little less Scrooge-like. Christmas in August may be a humbug, but threatening charities — and vandalizing their stores — isn't going to win the group any friends, unless you count those three ghosts creeping up the stairs.

Half of us are Christmas shopping already [Mail Online]

According to the Washington Post, the effort is part of what's expected to be an epic battle between the R crew, Walmart and other major retailers for the hearts, minds and wallets of America's parents.

...it's not the only retailer ramping up toy operations before Christmas. Sears has already installed permanent toy shops in 20 stores in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Behemoth discount retailer Wal-Mart said it is planning exclusives with popular licensed brands such as Bakugan and Transformers. "I think every lever that can be pulled will be pulled," said Anita Frazier, senior industry analyst for the market research firm NPD Group.

While retailers are hoping for a better season this year than last, that's far from certain. Toys R Us recently reported a drop in revenue for its latest quarter, as consumers remain reluctant to spring for high-priced toys.

Holiday blitz for Toys R Us [Washington Post]

(Photo: thewastedsmile)

None of the advice is snow globe shattering, but it's fundamentally sound and timely because now that we're into the final third of the year, you may as well begin preparing for the oncoming succubus of holiday spending.

One of the tips:

• Create a plan to stagger your expenses. This will allow you to pay for Christmas expenses using the income that you have coming in rather than putting it all on a credit card. You can plan to make some specific purchases every two weeks or every month in accordance to when your paychecks arrive. Doing this allows you to avoid the interest rates that you'd accrue if you wait until December and put everything on a credit card that takes months to pay off.

The pitfall to staggering Christmas gift purchases is that you may buy gifts that become obsolete and unreturnable by the time you're set to give them. But the tactic is probably worth a gamble to avoid the end-of-the-year sticker shock.

What measures do you take to prepare for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus?

Less Than Four Months ‘Til Christmas: A Money Saving Plan [Money Saving Blog]
(Photo: Paxton Holley)

(Thanks to Nathan for sending this in!)

(Photo: Kumar303)

UPDATE: Apparently the word "layaway" was, at some point, on this sign, but wasn't when Robin took this photograph. That makes more sense in concept, at least, but is still obnoxiously early for Christmas.

And, as tipster Robin muses, "Nothing says holiday cheer like Christmas shopping at a pawn shop in the middle of August!" Well, tough economic times call for new traditions.

Joe says:

Over the weekend I was shopping at the Costco in Auburn Hills, Michigan and saw that they had the Xmas decorations out. I just had to pull out my phone and snag a photo of it. It's 124 days till Xmas for crying out loud!

This sucks, the Halloween Egg Nog isn't even out yet!

Sure is spooky stuff that not even Mulder and Scully could explain.

Reader Don says:

So, I walk into my local hobby lobby yesterday to look for a clock, and lo and behold there were 4 aisles of Christmas decorations up already.
I was astonished to see people actually shopping the product...they had baskets full of ornaments and decorations.
I've attached a couple pictures that I could snap when people weren't standing in the way.

We should commend them for not putting out the trees yet, we suppose. That must be taking a fair amount of restraint on their part.

Remember, if you see some Christmas Creep, snap a photo of it and email it to tips@consumerist.com and/or add it to our Flickr pool with the tag "Christmas Creep." Preference will be given to photos that are accompanied by interesting text.

Christmas in July Sale [Creative] (Thanks to Felix!)

Well, I guess early July is as good a time as any to buy a pre-lit Christmas tree.

Christmas Lane [Kmart]

Jook, who took this photo quickly as his wife hurried away to more seasonally appropriate merchandise, asked, "Why don't stores have any concept of seasons?"

We can almost give Tuesday Morning a pass because they're a closeout retailer—note the Thanksgiving stuff mixed in there behind Santa—although it still seems a little too early (or too late?) to load up the shelves with Christmas merchandise. But what's Hallmark's excuse?

A., who sent us the link to the above page, writes, "I saw the sign on my local Hallmark store, but didn't have my camera to take a picture."

Update: Here's Hallmark's excuse!

I understand your complaint, I hear you, we've gotten the Christmas in July question before. And since you asked what Hallmark's excuse is I thought I'd share it with you, because we actually do have one.

We've been holding Ornament Premiere in July for 15+ years so I can tell you that we're not putting things out earlier each year (even if sometimes it seems like it), the date of this event has been in place for awhile. The premiere event is mainly for ornament collectors, and yes, there are a lot of them, that shop year round.

They would be really happy if put out the next year's ornaments on December 26, but we wait until July. We know the majority of people aren't ornament shopping in July, but for those that are—again there are quite a lot of them—well that's our excuse.

Deidre
Public Relations
Hallmark

We're troubled by this because it's not even Carnival season, let alone Lent. If we don't get to wear this until after Twelfth Night, you don't get to sell chocolate eggs, either.

"I'm not sure if this counts as Christmas creep, but it's definitely pre-Thanksgiving."

Scandalous.

Reader Matt says:

I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the Christmas holiday on the planet but the spirit isn't typically shown after Thanksgiving. I've gotten a few laughs on how many stores started with the Christmas Creep extremely early this year. Well it extends beyond the stores. After dropping my fiancee off at Logan Airport this morning, which is in Boston for those not familiar with the area, I started scanning the radio to find some decent tunes. And what did I find on Oldies 103.3? You guessed it Christmas music. When I got home and took a look at their website, http://www.oldies1033.com/ , it really put the icing on the cake. The "holiday season" has gotten out of control this year and I just wanted to share my experience with you guys.

My manager began playing Christmas music the week before Halloween. I've had numerous customers come up to me and complain.. saying we're pushing to much into the season. The music continues to play, nonstop. We only stopped for a short hour or two on Halloween to play Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a couple of times. Christmas is here, at Borders Books and Music in Massachusetts.

The photo was taken at HyVee grocery store in Kansas City, MO.

Start shopping now!

Reader Kyle says these photos were taken yesterday, 10/29 at a CVS in Arlington, VA.

(Thanks, Kyle!)

A Black Friday like no other: How the economy is changing Black Friday [Dealnews]

Wikipedia says The Halloween Tree is a novel by Ray Bradbury, but somehow I don't think this is what he had in mind. Maybe the Halloween decorations are mating with the Christmas trees?

(Thanks, Darrell!)

Meg says:

It really disturbs me. Pumpkins should NOT wear Santa hats, and little candy corns should NOT mingle with Christmas trees! Seemingly we can't even have Halloween anymore without the mention of Christmas!

Yeah! This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...

Reader Aaron says:

Today I was in Rite Aid in Bellport, NY with my wife getting her prescription filled. When we walked down an aisle, I was greeted by a nice, long display of Christmas decorations and items to purchase! I groaned and told my wife how it is just obscene and obnoxious to have this stuff out when it's September and I'm still wearing shorts. I mean, Halloween is still a month away!

Anyhow, I share in your anger of how a single day out of 365 is exploited beyond belief.

Aaron, you're just lazy. By today's standards, you should have been buying your Halloween decorations two months ago. Get with the program!

Chandra Greer, owner of a luxury paper store in Old Town, decided to jump on the Christmas creep bandwagon for the first time this year. She held a holiday sale last weekend, offering markdowns of 25 percent to 90 percent on cards, stationery and wrapping paper.

"Not only have we never had a holiday sale, we never had a sale before," said Greer, whose store goes by her last name. "Given what's going on in the economy, we felt a sale would be well-received."

The promotion generated 75 percent more in dollar volume than an average day, even with the steep discounts, said Greer, who had planned to take the day off but went to the store to help clerks handle the crowd.

In these days of heady excess, we could all benefit by waiting until after Thanksgiving to kick off our holiday binge-shopping.

'Christmas creep' hits earlier this season [The Chicago Tribune]
(Photo: βonne)

The Lowe's in Cary, NC already has Christmas decorations up. Right next to the Halloween decorations.

Argh! It's not even the MLB post-season yet!

A few rows of Halloween, and then, wham! A row of Christmas. Note the Domo Halloween posters.

Halloween? What's that?

(Photo: Raphael Brion )