You better watch out
Clad in cargo pants and flip-flops on a recent day that reached into the upper 70s, Marie Mason browsed the aisles at Kohl’s with a breezy nonchalance. She had no list, no shopping agenda to speak of. Just skimming about for something to strike her fancy.
But when her eye caught the department store’s Christmas display, a sparkling showcase of ornaments, snow globes, and stockings just past the “Indian Summer” home decor collection, her light-hearted mood darkened into a grinchlike glower.
“Too soon for all that,” the petite 54-year-old grumbled. “Way too soon.”
Sorry, Marie. The leaves may have barely begun to fall, and the still-strong sun banishes thoughts of December. But like it or not, the holiday shopping season, in all its gift-giving cheer and consumerist frenzy, is already underway. It began even earlier than usual this year, with a few stores displaying Christmas items in July.
The accelerated arrival of ceramic Santa Clauses and faux-pine wreaths at retail outlets is a much-lamented phenomenon known as Christmas creep. And as retailers jockey for a piece of increasingly limited holiday budgets in a make-or-break game of one-upmanship, it shows little sign of retreat.
