Only 87 days until Christmas

Holiday decorations have arrived at Target stores, proving once again that there is no such things as “too early” when it comes to seasonal merchandising. Christmas merchandise seemingly arrives earlier every year, and every year there is a predictable outcry from traditionalists who bemoan the holiday’s commercialization and cling to a romanticized ideal that Christmas should be about more than buying presents. Those people don’t work in retail and haven’t endured one of the most challenging sales environments in recent memory. It’s go time, baby, and that means retailers need to get shoppers in the holiday spirit as early as possible, even though it is well documented that during lean economic time people are shopping closer to need. Even so, why deny those shoppers who want to purchase high-margin seasonal products the opportunity to do so based on an antiquated notion that the merchandising of Christmas products can’t begin until after an arbitrary date in November. We would probably be seeing an even greater presence of Christmas goods in store, were it not for the fact that Halloween has become such a big selling opportunity, and this year sales are expected to benefit from Halloween falling on a Saturday.