Holiday Shopping

           

Remember when Thanksgiving was still a holiday?  Christmas has always dominated shelf space in stores during the fall, but over the years, we have basically lost Thanksgiving.  Retailers always shift from one holiday to the next (Valentine’s Day makes way for Easter, etc.) but this year, I saw Christmas decorations on the shelves before Halloween.  These were not “buy it early” discounts, but a jump start for people who wanted to buy their supplies.  I didn’t see anyone stacking bows next to their Halloween candy at the checkout counter, though. 

Looking back on my youth when we still chiseled our schoolwork on stone tablets, there were NO stores open on Thanksgiving Day.  You were lucky if you could find an open gas station. I used to do a hard-target search to make sure my grandmother had EVERYTHING she needed for her cooking and baking because I dreaded going to the grocery store on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Undoubtedly, there would always be ONE item she simply couldn’t do without that was not in the house.  There I stood for an hour holding a jar of nutmeg in the express lane at Food World.  She and her delicious food were worth it. 

We looked forward to sitting in traffic on I-459 on “the Friday after Thanksgiving” so we could exit and make our way to the Galleria.  Back then, they honored the normal store hours and didn’t open until 10:00 am.  A few years later, they started opening the mall at midnight even though most of the stores did not open.  I have no idea what time the Galleria will open this year, but I doubt they will make customers wait too long to start their holiday shopping.  K-Mart announced that it will be opening at 6:00 am Thanksgiving Day.  For people who work retail, Thanksgiving has turned into just another Thursday.  For my part, I will be perched in front of the computer Thanksgiving morning waiting to click and buy to my heart’s content.  FREE SHIPPING FOR EVERYBODY!!  Happy Holidays.

Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail / Caitlin Kelly

Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays / Joel Waldfogel

http://www.theblackfriday.com/

http://bfads.net/

http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/

http://dealnews.com/black-friday/