CurrentEvents

As I skimmed the headings of articles on Boston.com I came across an attention grabbing article titled: “You better watch out”, written by Peter Schwarz from the Globe. This article caught my attention not only because of the title, but the blurb discussed the upcoming Christmas holiday. While I was reading this article I couldn’t help but think of how I do not usually hear about Christmas until Thanksgiving. Not only have Halloween and Thanksgiving yet to come, but we are still in the month of September. Similar to Michaels who was interviewed for the article, I am still transitioning from summer. How can one think of a winter holiday when there are still days I catch myself, as well as others around campus in shorts and flip-flops? People are going window shopping at stores, and come across Christmas displays. Many of the interviewed express their frustrations over the holiday’s early arrival, but retail stores and marketing analysts are claiming that many consumers are seizing the opportunities. The article shows two different views, but by the end I am still confused as to which case holds the majority. Although the analysts and stores do raise valid points, I agree with the distraught consumers who were interviewed on the topic. Last year I worked at Staples during the holiday rush. We began playing music about two weeks before Thanksgiving. I felt it was odd, but I knew that the store was trying to get consumers in the spirit of shopping so I did not let the music bother me, but many customers came up to me to complain about how we began playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving. In the article a Sears’ spokeswoman said there were no complaints and many actually took advantage of the opportunity. I do believe that the customers ended up taking advantages of the prices, but it is hard to believe that customers were not fazed by the displays and Christmas music. The Sears discussed in the article is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, which is across the street from where I worked. I find it hard to believe that a year later, in the same location, consumers are feeling differently about early holiday retail arrivals. Last year we were also experiencing economic problems. Sears has a wide range of consumers, so I believe that the retailers are trying to downplay the annoyance of their consumers and make them feel as though they are a minority for not preparing early for the holiday season. I understand that retail stores need to market early in order to successfully compete in the business, but I also believe that it is unnecessary to begin this early, and as a result, they may lose consumers.

\”You better watch out\”, boston.com article