Retail Therapy: Walmart, retailers getting jump start on Christmas season

[unhappycamper]

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/business/retail-therapy-walmart-retailers-getting-jump-start-on-christmas-season/article_25845be8-fd64-5205-bdb5-d8c6fd7b7629.html



Retail Therapy: Walmart, retailers getting jump start on Christmas season
Posted: Friday, September 12, 2014 4:43 pm | Updated: 12:15 am, Sun Sep 14, 2014.
By Catherine Pritchard

Are you ready to start Christmas shopping?

Or maybe you've already finished? If you have younger kids in the house, I'm guessing no. So are retailers who sell that Christmas staple - toys.

And they're going to bombard you with lists of what they think will be hot sellers this year.

Walmart started the conversation this week, issuing a list of top 20 toys for Christmas. It did rely on recommendations from experts - hundreds of kids, ages 18 months to 12 years old, who apparently were turned loose for a good while with a bazillion toys that will be on retailers' shelves and websites during the shopping season. Sounds like kid nirvana.

[merrily]

1. Is this much earlier than usual, or is it much too early, as usual?

[yeoman6987]

2. It is way earlier

My recent observation of Christmas was immediately after Holloween which I think is ridiculous. I think the day after Thanksgiving is best. But since I am not in charge what do I know. However, if they keep this up, we will be preparing for Christmas all year long or the stores will want us to.

[merrily]

3. I noticed them starting right after Halloween some years back and moving it up even

more in last couple of years. But that could be just my neighborhood.

Thing is, Halloween is not a bad day for retail sales, either, I was kind of surprised to learn. So, maybe diluting it will be self defeating in the end.

[Demeter]

4. I saw Christmas Trees at Sam's Club last week

We haven't even had Halloween, yet. It's still summer, because Autumn doesn't begin until September 22nd!

This is desperation on the part of retailers.

[Uben]

5. Me, too!

They had an entire aisle designated to trees and decorations. I'm thinking WTF, it's mid-September.

[sendero]

6. Retailers..

... have to order most of their Christmas merchandise in Aug or earlier. They have every incentive to skew the demand towards the crap they have ordered.

[eridani]

7. I'm going to make quarter-page signs with holes punched for hanging with string

They will read. "Could we PLEASE do Halloween and Thanksgiving first?"