WalMart Madness

[ancona]

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday......on purpose as a matter of fact. I needed a vacuum bag for my upright and it is the only game in town for that sort of thing, so off I went. When I got to the parking lagoon, it was only about a third full, which is highly unusual for that store. Inside, I couldn't believe they already had all the Christmas crap set up and music to go along with it. This is a scary omen people, very scary indeed. i know they have been creeping Christmas back each year for some time now, but this is absurd. I don't know when all this stuff got put on the floor, but it's apparently been there a while already.

We've just barely entered November and it's already happening. I imagine Wal-Mart is not an outlier here, rather, I think they're the bellwether. Folks are facing reduced government transfers, Obamacare premiums that will double and triple their health care expenses and an insidious hidden inflation in nearly everything that's not officially part of the government inflation calculations. My family is feeling the pinch as well, and we'll likely fell it even more before the new year comes. Christmas promises to be a quiet affair at our homestead this year, as we dial it back yet another notch.

We opted out of the corporate gift scam a long time ago, doing a sort of voluntary gift thing throughout the year instead. If I see that Little Ancona wants something that I consider a luxury item, I'll put a buck or two back until I can afford it, then I buy it and give it to her. Not because it's Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter, I do it because I love my kid and it makes me feel good to see her happy. She does the same thing throughout the year for myself and her mom. We're adopting a different way, because we can see what's coming our way, and it's not pretty.

Christmas in October is just too much. Two and a half months of marketing is so over the top it makes me angry. Greedy retailers have pushed the envelope so far that they've destroyed any remaining joy I may have had for the whole season. We're switching it to the off position now, and refuse to join the hedonic scramble for the "best deals". We're returning Christmas back to God this year.

 

[benjamen]

I was in a Home Depot a month ago that already had christmas decorations and fake trees on sale.
:shrug:

 

[DCFusor]

Hard for me to decrease holiday spending that was already about zero. I just go clip off a tree in the yard (it's a big yard with a lot of Christmas sized pine trees in it as weeds), reuse the same old stuff, and send myself one of those luxury food baskets...have for years.

Like ancona - gifting is just the norm around here, timing has nothing to do with the calendar except for seasonal stuff. Like one of the great gardeners on my list might get a really high quality die-cast trowel next spring...stuff like that.

 

[Aubuy]

I googled "Ancona and Walmart" and got this picture:

Seriously though, there is now Christmas music on the radio and that is enough to drive me over the edge. I long for the days when Christmas stuff didn't show up in the stores until the day after Thanksgiving. :shrug:

 

[pmbug]

Someone ought to write a strongly worded letter.

 

[ancona]

Funny you should say that PMBug, because I've done just that very thing in the past. I sent one to Target a couple of years ago when they were having a crappy year and needed a strong Christmas.....or else...

I received a nice letter back explaining to me a lot of crap about customer base, margin, blah, blah, blah.....and a twenty five dollar in-store voucher.

 

[benjamen]

It is all about the money.

"For many traditional retailers, the holiday season can represent anywhere between 25-40% of their annual sales."

http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=Pages&sp_id=878


Most retailers make very little profit during the rest of the year.

 

[pmbug]

I understand the economic impetus, but I can't brook the effective marginalization of Thanksgiving - a holiday that should mean a lot to our modern day anti-CYIKACs* who don't understand the first thing about prepping or living without a power grid.

CYIKAC = Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

IOW, "why does Walmart hate Thanksgiving so much?" Perfect start to a strongly worded letter IMO.

 

[Jay]

We opted out of the corporate gift scam a long time ago, doing a sort of voluntary gift thing throughout the year instead. If I see that Little Ancona wants something that I consider a luxury item, I'll put a buck or two back until I can afford it, then I buy it and give it to her. Not because it's Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter, I do it because I love my kid and it makes me feel good to see her happy. She does the same thing throughout the year for myself and her mom. We're adopting a different way, because we can see what's coming our way, and it's not pretty.

we have done exactly the same thing since we got married and had children. The routine is "its all the same pie. We have X amount of money, and if you want it and we can afford it we will buy it, if we are broke tough." Bing makes a BIG deal about Christmas and wraps crap from all over the house in addition to presents so they is tons of stuff under the tree, and its always a jolly time, but no-one ever hurts for wanting anything, with the sole exception of my 12 year old who wanted a cell phone forever. He knew better than to say anything about it to me (knowing my stance on cell phones) but we were at WalMart (I HATE Walmart) and I watched him almost literally drool over the phones, walking down the line and touching each one. He had been patient for three (?) years, so I conned his older brother into getting him one AND footing the bill (snicker snicker). The chain grocery i work for started putting out the Christmas stuff about a full month ago, and a good number of the staff has to stay all night in a couple of days to decorate for Christmas. Fortunately, to the best of my knowledge I've been exempted.

snip:
In English the word Humbug refers to a person or thing that tricks, deceives, talks, or behaves in a way that is deceptive, dishonest, false, or insincere, often a hoax or in jest.[1][2] The term was first described in 1751 as student slang. It is now also often used as an exclamation to mean 'nonsense' or 'gibberish'. When referring to a person, a humbug means a fraud or impostor, implying an element of unjustified publicity and spectacle. In Britain, the term is also used for certain types of candy.

In modern usage, the word is most associated with Ebenezer Scrooge, a character created by Charles Dickens. His famous reference to Christmas, "Bah! Humbug!", declaring Christmas to be a fraud, is commonly used in stage and television versions of A Christmas Carol and also appeared frequently in the original book.

 

[Jay]

I googled "Ancona and Walmart" and got this picture:

Seriously though, there is now Christmas music on the radio and that is enough to drive me over the edge. I long for the days when Christmas stuff didn't show up in the stores until the day after Thanksgiving. :shrug:

Aubuy, come to the Philippines. We celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas on the same day (there were no American Indians to slaughter, only Negritos, Indios and Igorots) and everyone is broke so there are no shopping crowds, just crowds. And I HATE the Christmas music also. Bah Humbug!

 

[Jay]

Hard for me to decrease holiday spending that was already about zero. I just go clip off a tree in the yard (it's a big yard with a lot of Christmas sized pine trees in it as weeds), reuse the same old stuff, and send myself one of those luxury food baskets...have for years.

Like ancona - gifting is just the norm around here, timing has nothing to do with the calendar except for seasonal stuff. Like one of the great gardeners on my list might get a really high quality die-cast trowel next spring...stuff like that.

We use a live Norfolk pine (they are from the South Pacific) and ours is now touching the ceiling, so I guess we will have to do something else next year. Last year I used a blooming plumeria, though. The last Christmas tree we had in the Philippines was a pathetic looking stick. It seemed kinda ludicrous in the 90 degree heat.

 

[dontdeBasemebro]

The steamrolling of Thanksgiving really bothers me too since it is my favorite US holiday, really the only one I care about. The rest of Christmas I've always just ignored anyways, which can be quite a challange with the "music".

 

[Aubuy]

Last year I used a blooming plumeria

At least it's one of the nicest smelling Christmas trees you could have used.

 

[11C1P]

Well most retail stores have Christmas stuff up year round, and every year some one thinks they are discovering some big secret about commercialism. I always chuckle when I watch the original miracle on 34th street (1940's) and they are complaining about how commercial Christmas has gotten. Same thing in the 1960's Charlie Brown Christmas and on and on. Stores need to make money and some make over 1/2 their yearly profit during the Christmas season. This year the "official" Christmas season from Black friday to Christmas eve is a short one, and couple that with the obabmaconomy, they are in dire straits. I'd say if you don't like seeing Christmas decorations in the store, shop online.