Opinion: Halloween, Christmas take over retail shelves

While I do get a kick out of watching the kids gather their goodies – this year at an event sponsored by our church – in recent years, Halloween has been little more than a reminder that Thanksgiving and Christmas soon will be here.

Not that I really needed another reminder – it drives me nuts to go to Wal-Mart and find Halloween paraphernalia in close proximity to Christmas wrap and yard decorations.

For one thing, what about Thanksgiving? Every year it seems to be overshadowed more and more as spooky displays are removed to make way for Christmas decorations.

Perhaps the retail world just hasn’t figured out a good way to make more money off of Thanksgiving. When was the last time you saw a giant inflatable yard turkey or a scene depicting the Mayflower in twinkle lights? (Actually, we just found out that there are 6-foot inflatable lawn turkeys available.)

Most of the hoopla at Thanksgiving time relates to the day after, which is largely touted as the busiest shopping day of the year. Forget about the turkey – just be sure your shopping lists are complete and you’re up and headed out before dawn the next morning!

All the pressure to buy, buy, buy – and buy NOW – takes the fun out of getting ready for Christmas.

Don’t misunderstand – I love Christmas! At our house, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and it’s important to me that we reflect on that very first Christmas gift. I love spending time with friends and family. I even love to buy gifts for others.

What I don’t love, though, is the frenzy of it all. Why does it have to be such a rush, with commercials, Christmas merchandise on the shelves when temperatures are still in the 80s and stores using the airwaves to jockey for position with “the best deals on holiday shopping”?

For kids, I understand the urgency. There’s little that is as thrilling as waiting for Christmas morning, eagerly anticipating what’s left beneath the tree. But sometimes, and especially for those of us who are responsible for making sure that there are gifts beneath the tree, I think the holiday spirit gets lost in the hustle and bustle.

Heck, last year, we didn’t get the tree up until a day or two before Christmas.

It didn’t come down until May, but that’s another story.

I wonder why the push to get people started on their Christmas shopping seems to intensify each year – do retailers fear that people are just going to stop buying their wares? Somehow, I doubt that.

The National Retail Federation’s 2005 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch and released Oct. 18, shows that consumers are planning to spend 5.1 percent more during holiday shopping this year than they did in 2004. Specifically, the survey found that the average consumer plans to spend $738.11 during the holiday season for family, friends and even a gift or two for themselves.

Some people already have started their holiday shopping. The survey, which polled 7,726 consumers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent, found that 15.3 percent of consumers started holiday shopping before September, and another 6.3 percent got started last month.

More than one-third will begin shopping in November, and about one-fourth will wait until December. The bottom line is this: People are going to shop for the holidays.

I once worked with a man who took great pleasure in waiting to Christmas shop for his wife until Christmas Eve. That’s not for me. I’m more compatible with the folks who started shopping late this summer. Not because of all the hoopla I see in the stores, but because I know that if I don’t get an early start, there’s no way I’ll be finished in time. The more I get done earlier, theoretically, the less stress I’ll have as the holidays get closer.

But I have to admit, the hurry and scurry brought about by strategic placement of holiday wares in OCTOBER and the reminders by retailers of X number of days to shop until Christmas stress me out. To be honest, I’m more apt to shop where I’m not hit over the head with holiday fare.

I just hope that when it comes time for me to do my shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, there’s still room amid all the holiday goods for the turkey and trimmings. Because although it gets overshadowed, Thanksgiving’s a holiday, too!

Maria Hoover is SBJ Inside Business Editor.

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