FIRST Christmas Ad in Newspaper Sept 30th ... How early is too early??

[Blackhatjack]

I commented to my son that stores began playing Christmas music in stores last year in early October, and that 'pre-Christmas' ads began appearing about the same time.

So this year the first 'Christmas ad' ran in our local statewide newspaper by Kroger on September 30, 2007.

How early is too early?

And what does this tell us about merchants' view of the deteriorating economy?

[YOY]

1. It's too early.

Hell Mid-November sounds right to me at best, but that's a stretch. Post Thanksgiving perhaps.

[Donnachaidh]

2. Costco was putting out christmas ornaments for sale in AUGUST

And they already have a complete aisle of the plastic crap already. :grr:

[n2doc]

3. Probably all of the ships moving crap from China are booked in December for Easter crap

Gotta get ahead of the curve, ya know!

[Jane Austin]

18. I am sure they are booked long before that!

Booking a ship - or a container - is not something you'd want to put off until the last minute. :)

See my #16 below.

[jojo54]

4. Local discount store had stuff out early August. Ugh!

It's all about who gets the most money the fastest & the earliest.

[Irishonly]

5. Hallmark

started selling Christmas ornaments around the 4th of July.

[Blackhatjack]

6. Merchants are pretty savvy when it comes to reading the economy for Christmas sales....

I think they know that people are going to be less likely to spend money the closer we get to Christmas because of the deteriorating economic conditions, and it is better to get what they can early than wait til later.

[John1956PA]

7. I heard two Christmas songs on the radio this morning.

The station played "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas." The station was 93.7 FM in Pittsburgh. Between the songs was a short bite concerning a promotion in which the listeners are to gather clues and to call in to guess the correct answer which will be revealed later this week. I think that the Christmas songs might have been tied to the promotion, or they could have been played for the purpose of satirizing the early hype for the Christmas season.

[Blackhatjack]

8. Walmart stated 'consumers are out of money' ... what does that tell you?

And Walmart is the 800 lb Gorilla when it comes to US retail sales.

[RB TexLa]

9. Why would anyone care when people run advertisement campaigns?

[Blackhatjack]

15. See post above. Indication of state of Economy? n/t

[Liberal In Texas]

10. I noticed Lowe's was starting to put out the Xmas stuff this weekend.

"There ought to be a law!"...no Xmas until the last 2 weeks before.
By the time it rolls around I'm so sick of it, I just want it to be over.

[Ghost in the Machine]

11. 2 weeks before xmas should be fine.. if people can't remember when

it is by now, fuck 'em!

[JackintheGreen]

13. Wait...when's Christmas again?

It's the same thing as Xmas, right?

[Ghost in the Machine]

Jan 20, 2009..

:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

21. Amen to that ! n/t

[Bluzmann57]

12. Not much different than announcing candidacy

for the presidency two years before the election. GO CUBS!

[orleans]

14. sing: the trees are in the stores, the trees are in the stores,

high ho the derry-o, the trees are in the stores

[Jane Austin]

16. My view as a small business owner is a little different.

Because of globalization and "just in time" warehousing, if you decide to stock something people like and you only start selling it in late November, you will have no time to re-order a popular item and many of your customers will be disappointed.

For the same reason, the big wholesale gift shows hold their annual Christmas and Holiday trade shows in January - gulp.

The idea is that if a manufacturer can tell by, say, April, what is going to be a big enough seller (by January and February orders) they will place the appropriate-sized order in China or Singapore or Korea or wherever their overseas factories are.

Manufacturers may place only one huge order per item for that year, so when it's gone, it's gone.

Meanwhile, if you place an order at the Christmas shows in January, if it's large enough the mnfr will reward you with 60- or 90- day dating. This means you don't have to pay for the whole thing a mere 30 days after it is shipped to you in, say, July, but can sell enough of them by September or October to pay for the order.

Paying for Christmas orders in August is hard to do if you haven't sold any of it yet.

FWIW, since our website can be arranged by breed of dog and searched for "Christmas" or "Holiday", our customers can find Christmas cards and Holiday ornaments all year 'round, and we sell a surprising number of those seasonal products throughout the year.

Anyway, from my Mom and Pop Retailer's perch, I say pushing the season is just one more thing you can blame on globalization. :(

I do promise you that our home store in Austin is not decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving!

[Blackhatjack]

19. As a small business owner, how do you see the Economy this year?

I believe small business owners' orders are a good indicator of the strength of the Economy.

When Walmart issued their statement that 'consumers have run out of money' that should have been a giant red flag, given Walmart is the nation's largest retail seller.

You obviously have already made your decisions about Christmas orders for this year. Do you think it is going to be a down year, up year, or about the same as last year?

THanks

[Jane Austin]

24. We needed to boost orders, so we're having a 10% off everything

sale.

I thought orders were lagging, and we need to get that cash flowing to pay for what we've already ordered.

The response to the sale has been very good, but we have our own niche and may not reflect the overall retail market.

WalMart sells a lot of stuff people need: food, clothes, school supplies, cheap dog food, fabric, towels, etc.

Our dog foods are super-premium, and our socks - in a zillion breeds - are a "want" not a "need".

Likewise, we don't sell clothing you "need" unless you need a "Dogfather" tee shirt. :)

We are breaking our own records in specialty items, like British-style slip leads, but they will last indefinitely, so can't be compared to a PetSmart leash.

I'm am hopeful, but not confident, about this selling season.

Our biggest problem, economy-wise, is manufacturers who are tightening up their lines (discontinuing popular products) or going out of business all together.

We can't sell things if nobody is manufacturing them. :(

[Jane Austin]

25. I didn't mean to leave a tease on my last comment.

Our 10% sale was announced to our online customers, with a code for the discount.

It's not a secret code, just a way to kick our shopping cart program into applying the discount.

If you need a code, it's SURE91

[depakid]

17. Reminds me of Gore's statement about dysfunctional American elections

"I'm one of those who doesn’t like to see the Christmas goods put in the stores right after Halloween,'' Gore told King. "I don’t think Americans are well-served by having an endless campaign… Why close up the field and say, 'OK, place your bets.' I don’t have to play that game.''

[SoCalDem]

20. Halloween candy appeared right after 4th of July around here

Poor Thanksgiving.. It used to be a big holiday..not so much anymore..

[kcass1954]

22. Does this mean we can start the war on Christmas early? n/t

[Ghost in the Machine]

23. Sure! The war on Halloween & Thanksgiving already started....

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