Last night was Christmas Eve. On Friday, when I drove up to Philly for the annual conference of the Northeast Political Science Association, I stopped at Maryland House for a refuel. All was normal. Last night, when I drove back down, Maryland House was coated in Holiday Lights and jammed with Holiday Trees. I rolled down Connecticut marveling at wreaths and garlands before Thanksgiving. And today I read this, from the LA Times:
Years ago, it was considered verboten to promote Christmas merchandise before Thanksgiving, but retailers such as Wal-Mart and Kohl's are now posting holiday specials earlier, in an attempt to blur seasonal lines in shoppers' minds. Which means from a value standpoint, Black Friday could be a bust.
But many retailers and industry watchers agree with Scott and say the average Black Friday shopper no longer expects bargain-basement deals -- or even to get much Christmas shopping done, really.
"It's become an event in its own right," said Jack Kyser, senior vice president and chief economist of the downtown-based Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. "It used to be that Black Friday was an indicator of how healthy Christmas sales were going to be, but that's not really the case anymore. . . . It's a social event."
In that case, you're better off going to the movies -- or the beach.
So far, there is no Tickle Me Elmo to stand in line for this holiday season, no new iPod or must-have Ugg boots to snag.
"Retailers haven't gotten shoppers excited," says Marshall Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, a market research firm that studies consumer trends. "There's no hot fashion trends, there's no hot electronics."
There are no hot fashion trends. There are no hot electronics. Learn your own language, dammit. Like Hank Rollins says, you only need to master about 25 words. That point aside, this article speaks perfectly well for itself. The zombies shuffle on.
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