Markets

U.S. open in 50 hrs, 27 mins

DJIA

10,309.92

-154.48

1.48%

NASDAQ

2,138.44

-37.61

1.73%

S&P 500

1,091.49

-19.14

1.72%

10yr Note

101.406

0.5625

0.56%

FTSE 100

5,245.73

51.60

0.99%

Nikkei 225

9,081.52

-301.72

3.22%

Hang Seng

21,134.50

-1,075.91

4.84%

Euro (in USD)

1.498

-0.0023

0.15%

Yen (per USD)

85.54

-0.86

1.00%

Gold

1,177.80

-9.20

0.78%

Oil

75.97

-1.99

2.55%

BUSINESS NEWS

INVESTING

Financial Glossary

PERSONAL FINANCE AT WALLETPOP

SMALL BUSINESS

Stores Start Stealthy Christmas in October

By Michael Barbaro and Stuart Elliott,

The New York Times

Posted: 2007-10-09 15:00:30

Its a subliminal Christmas.

Eager to expand the holiday shopping season without provoking consumers, retailers are experimenting with a novel approach: earlier-than-ever advertising that deliberately plays down the tinsel and holly.

Shattering records for an early start, Wal-Mart is cutting prices on toys in mid-October, but the company is not calling it a holiday sale. L. L. Bean has started advertising free shipping but it is shying away from the H word. And Toys R Us is marketing a temporary store in Manhattan, but consumers have to study ads to find the name: Holiday Express.

The furtive marketing campaigns are intended to jump-start what stores expect to be a listless buying season, one dragged down by economic jitters and large-scale toy recalls.

The National Retail Federation predicts that sales will rise 4 percent this holiday, to $474.5 billion the slowest growth rate in five years. Rosalind Wells, chief economist for the federation, a trade group, warned that retailers are in for a somewhat challenging holiday season.

Rather than waiting to see how the season unfolds, big retail chains are introducing advertisements in early October aimed at holiday shoppers, an unusual intrusion into Halloween shopping territory.

Feed

More Stories

But the Christmas-in-October gambit requires finesse, lest stores confuse or annoy shoppers. Many consumers bemoan the ever-earlier start to the holiday shopping season, which traditionally commenced the day after Thanksgiving.

So stores are sneaking up on Christmas. Despite balmy weather throughout much of the country, Sears (on Wednesday) and Montgomery Ward (on Thursday) have published their holiday shopping catalogs with the word holiday written in small type, like a footnote. A new ad for family portraits at J. C. Penney features a woman holding a small child, a blurry Christmas tree behind them.

Wal-Mart said it would not begin its formal holiday marketing campaign until the end of the month. But the company has already begun the kind of price cuts on toys that it typically employs closer to Christmas. (Wal-Mart is calling the price cuts a rollback, its term for a discount. But a news release from the company, not intended for consumers, describes them as an aggressive move to lead the market on holiday savings.)

Nick Agarwal, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said the company is not embarrassed at having rollbacks available now for shoppers. We know many like to plan ahead and spread the cost of Christmas.

An ad for Toys R Uss so-called pop-up store, open from now till February in downtown Manhattan, is stripped of traditional holiday trappings. There are no ribbons or sleds or Christmas tree ornaments. But the company mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, wears a small Santa hat. Its understated, said Kathleen Waugh, a spokeswoman for Toys R Us.

Why begin marketing a holiday store in early October, seven weeks before the official start of the season and 12 weeks before Christmas?

Everyone can use a little Christmas right now, after a summer of toy recalls, Ms. Waugh said. Its time to remember what toys are all about.

L. L. Bean wants customers to know it will offer free shipping but does not want to hit them over the head with a holiday theme. An ad running in print publications features a red backdrop and green ribbon but leaves out any explicit reference to Christmas.

A spokeswoman for the retailer, Carolyn Beem, conceded that the ad is a little toned down. Is the chain worried about upsetting shoppers with too much holiday too early in the year?

Its safe to say there is always anxiety, she said. The ad serves the marketing purpose. It gets people thinking that the holiday is coming.

2007-10-09 09:33:31

Must Read?

0 %

0 VOTES

Recent Comments

Post Your Own

1 - 10 of 479

479 comments

rsk6005 02:56:00 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

Hey I love Christmas, they should advertise it year round!!!!

confusionsaywhat 02:33:11 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

in our area they started christmas in august, waaayyyy to early... i'm not christmas
shopping at those merchants as i am already almost tired of looking at fake trees
and exotic santa clauses..........................not really the grinch

cutecat03 02:19:06 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

I'm glad they are starting it early. I always shop a few months early. When you live paycheck to paycheck its easier to buy a few things every check so that you wont go broke last minute shopping. I'm glad they are doing it this way.

valexis8 02:08:00 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

The reason they do it is to minimize Thanksgiving. Years ago I don't remember walking out the house the friday after, and thinking I had experienced a mini-coma with all the X-Mas decorations (gosh I hope I didn't sleep through it!). So it doesn't surprise me at all. It does seem to cheapen them both though (unless you're a retailer or herd mentality buyer). The market has spoken once again!!! I like to enjoy the long Thanksgiving weekend vibe for what it is and come Monday get into the Xmas mood. Being of born of Cuban parents the holidays don't end for us until January 6th "El Dia de Los Reyes Magos" (The Feast of the Epiphany). Really I think an entire month of buildup is more than enough.

Slick Stammie 01:17:04 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

FREE IPOD CHECK IT OUT

COMPLETE THE OFFER IT WORKS

http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=40673852

tfiggy50 01:14:00 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

please lets do one holiday at a time it would be so much nicer ,,,

rlw8693 01:04:19 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

if walmart isnt advertising christmas in october?why do you see christmas trees,decoration,santa clauses.make a true statement if you are the spokesperson for walmart go to the store and look,please dont be surprised when you see it is not what you stated.

gfaigen 12:55:27 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

What would Jesus think about how this holiday is celebrated? It's turned into cosumer consumption, greed and loss of all original meaning. It is a joke that should shame everyone that participates in the meaningless throwing away of money, the spoiling of kids, the corporations that you allow to push your buttons and everyone else keeping up with the Jones. Shame on you all.

jbarnes317jb 12:11:51 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

My husband and I did no have our annual Christmas Party last year for the first time in 30 years. Christmas is my most favorite season. Last year I couldn't wait for it to be over. It took longer to decorate the tree, longer to take down the decoration. I wanted a smaller tree, I wanted it to be over because the season was not defined; with Christmas starting in October. The excitment of Christmas and the reason for celebrating it is lost in the effort to merchandise. We need help getting back to Old Christmas Time. This year I am going to try. I have not been shopping because my friend said all the stores have Xmas merchandise out. To stave off the humdrums, I am waiting until November to visit their stores.

rush2112mn 12:10:14 PM Oct 11 2007

Report This!

Why even call it xmas anymore.....call it shopmas....toymas....moneymas...greedmas......spendallyourmoneyatmystoremas......shoptilyoudropmas....ect ect.....
There should be a national sales law....no xmas decorations up in stores until the day after xmas.........

1 - 10 of 479

479 comments