Stores decked out with Christmas, Halloween items

http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=75246

Retailers want shoppers to think about the ghost of Christmas future even before they deal with the ghosts and goblins of Halloween present.

Department stores already are stocking shelves with Christmas merchandise, in some cases setting up Christ-mas trees and holiday lighting.

It’s almost as if Santa is being marketed as a Halloween costume.

Wal-Mart Stores, Target and J.C. Penney are some retailers hoping to get consumers into a Christmas shopping frame of mind two months early. Sears Holdings Corp.’s Sears and Kmart stores kick off the Yuletide mood in late October or early November. Costco said it has always put out Christmas ornaments, gift wrap, cards and artificial trees as early as September.

The trend began about three years ago, but more retailers are joining in, said Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, a consumer behavior marketing firm in Charleston, S.C.

It’s a phenomenon called “Christmas creep”: Hoping to catch early shoppers, retailers are extending their all-important holiday shopping season, which accounts for 25 to 40 percent of the year’s sales.

“For some retailers, (the holidays are) the only time that they are truly profitable,” said Nancy Murray, an associate professor in the retail merchandising and management program at UW-Stout. “They are trying to extend that time by getting a jump on it.”

Brick-and-mortar stores, facing increased competition from online retailers, want to get their customers in a Christmas mind-set earlier, Murray said. They’re also trying to persuade shoppers to buy early because the best merchandise might be sold out as the holidays approach, she said.

It’s still not clear whether the strategy adds significantly to profits, said William Cody, managing director of the Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School. Retailers haven’t reported any big jumps in sales or profits pegged to an extended Christmas shopping season.

At least one major retailer is bucking the trend — at least to an extent.

Green Bay-based ShopKo, which has more than 135 stores in 13 states, noticed a few years ago customers did their shopping closer to Christmas.

“We did not change the time frame when we set holiday merchandise in the stores” — which is in late October and early November — “but we did move back the start of the promotional push for holiday merchandise to accommodate the later shopping trend,” said Brenda Vaughan, a spokeswoman for ShopKo, which has stores in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

Murray, the UW-Stout professor, added that some shoppers are pushing their purchases closer to Christmas. Typically, she said, the busiest sales day of the year for retailers is the Saturday before Christmas.

Chris Jaeger, general manager of Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, said he doesn’t believe most retailers are putting out holiday merchandise earlier. However, he said, some stores may have gotten more aggressive with their early holiday promotions.

In general, he said, the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest after Halloween, especially for smaller retailers in the mall.

Nonetheless, many retailers nationwide are promoting the holidays earlier on the calendar.

At The Parks at Arlington mall in Arlington, Texas, several shops already have Christmas trees in window displays, said Cindy Thompson, the shopping center’s marketing manager.

“It looks like Christmas is starting early,” she said.

Some retailers, such as Costco, have always set out their Christmas goods ahead of others.

“We put it out very early,” said Gary Ojendyk, Costco’s general merchandise manager. “There’s a lot of small-business people who buy products from us and resell the products.”

But retailers have to be careful not to push Christmas in October too aggressively because they don’t want to risk alienating shoppers.

“It’s too early. I think they should start after Thanksgiving,” said Kim Nelson, a shopper at Macy’s in downtown Philadelphia. “They just want to rush everything.”

While the 37-year-old resident of Glen Mills, Pa., doesn’t want to see Christmas décor at malls before Thanksgiving, she admits she does shop early for the holidays.

The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group in Washington, D.C., said 40 percent of consumers plan to start their holiday shopping before Halloween this year.

“The demand for holiday merchandise is there,” said Kathy Grannis, the group’s spokeswoman.

As Christmas comes ever earlier, it’s given Thanksgiving merchandise the boot.

“Thanksgiving items are really something of the past — the pilgrims, the turkeys,” Beemer said.

What hasn’t been hurt is Halloween. Halloween is becoming a bigger holiday as more adults join in. Decorative inflatables such as pumpkins are particularly popular, Cody said.

According to a survey by the retail trade group, nearly two-thirds of consumers plan to hold Halloween celebrations this year, up from 52 percent last year. Consumers said they plan to spend 22 percent more on average this year: $59 per person.

Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 85 percent plan to celebrate Halloween, up from 67 percent in 2005.

As such, retailers have no qualms about putting Christmas goods out early, alongside Halloween items. But they probably won’t push Christmas as early as summer.

“Are we going to see Christmas in July? No,” Grannis said. “The back-to-school season and every other holiday is important for them too.”