Christmas Arrives on Halloween

[Sequoia]

Retailers want shoppers to think about the ghost of Christmas future even before they deal with the ghosts and goblins of Halloween present.

Department stores are already stocking shelves with Christmas merchandise, in some cases setting up Christmas trees and holiday lighting.

It's almost as if Santa is being marketed as a Halloween costume.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. are some retailers hoping to get consumers into a Christmas shopping frame of mind two months early. Sears Holdings Corp.'s Sears and Kmart stores kick off the Yuletide mood in late October or early November. Costco Wholesale Corp. said it has always put out Christmas ornaments, gift wrap, cards and artificial trees as early as September.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2604414

How drepressing. Used to be you'd only see these decorations in the home section of department stores. I went to Macy's today and there's Xmas trees already up in the front section where they usually wait until at least AFTER Halloween.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

1. A small Christmas display goes up in my store (college bookstore)

somewhere around mid-September every year. Believe it or not, we GET the stuff from the buyers in late July and we have to hold onto it in the stockroom for a couple months.

The displays get bigger and more numerous until 12/25...then it hangs around for two months afterward, discounted 25% in January and 50% in February.

So there are a whole...4? 5 months? during the year without Christmas crap hanging around in some fashion.

[Sequoia]

4. The dougnut shop near work still has last year's Xmas decorations.

Seriously, never took them down. I had an elderly neighbor who'd leave his little tree up year round. It got dusty of course.

[CottonBear]

2. I hate this: Halloween shoved aside & T-Day run over in a mad rush

of a commercial X-Mas orgy of shopping and going deeper into debt. :(

In Germany, they begin Christmas celebrations NO SOONER than 2 weeks before Christmas. It is lovely.

[u4ic]

3. I saw a huge display

of Christmas cards in the grocery store today. :eyes:

[KamaAina]

5. Heck, it arrived today (or earlier) at Kmart near work

Christmas music, artificial trees (real ones not being shipped in yet) and all. :argh: Why don't they just start the hype after the Fourth of July and then leave all the crap up until Memorial Day? :sarcasm:

[Fox Mulder]

6. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday...

and their whole outdoor section was gone and in its place were numerous Christmas trees, giant inflatable snow globes, and lots of Christmas lights. The Christmas section was twice the size of the Halloween section.

:eyes:

[YankeyMCC]

7. So much for my pathetic efforts in the war on xmas

these retailers are waging a prolonged 'shock and awe' campaign against xmas.

;)