I walked into Publix this morning and found them setting up a huge Christmas display. At the time, the employee was stacking boxes of candy canes in a pyramid/Christmas tree shape. The display was also full of lights, paper plates and everything else you need to throw the first Christmas party of the year this weekend. There were other Christmas displays in the store and they had just put out the individual Christmas cards.
Not that any of this surprises me. We saw Christmas decorations at Bombay Company at least two weeks ago. The Toys R Us "Big Toy Book" was in the newspaper Sunday. I saw a credit card commercial this morning with a Bing Crosby Christmas song in the background. I'm actually surprised that Publix is putting this stuff out today rather than yesterday.
For years, people have been complaining about how commercial Christmas has become. (The truly ironic thing is that much of this complaint comes from Christians, yet some of the first Christmas ads I saw this year were from Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention's bookstore.) People make fun of, and lament, the fact that stores start promoting Christmas before Halloween is even over. Actually, what really surprises me is the restraint many retailers have shown this year regarding when Christmas is brought out. At least to my perception, I have seen very little mention of Christmas, so far.
Of course, the cynic/skeptic in me realizes that this has nothing to do with respect for Christmas. It may be respect for the dollars spent by people who complain about Christmas being promoted to early, but I really think it is another phenomenon. I have seen reports that this year saw record amounts of money spent on Halloween decorations, etc. and that this is a trend that has been going on for a while. While it won't reach the level of Christmas, I think retailers have realized they can get as much mileage out of Halloween as they do the other second tier holidays like Valentine's Day and Independence Day. So they don't bring out the Christmas stuff so early so they don't distract people from Halloween sales.
It's a pretty smart strategy, if you ask me. Most retail establisments make or break their year on holiday shopping. If they promote Halloween, they can stretch the holiday season into October, which they've been trying to do for years, but they do it without making people weary of Christmas.
As for me, I'll wait a little while longer before really getting into Christmas.
Until then, have a happy Fall and great Thanksgiving!
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