Joy of Christmas

Christmas music on the radio and holiday merchandise in stores shortly after Halloween caught University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior Jill Ebke off guard.

“It seems like they put stuff out earlier and earlier every year,” she said. “Retailers don’t even wait for Thanksgiving.”

Ebke said she begins her holiday shopping a few weeks before Christmas, despite retailers’ attempts to get her to buy earlier.

In an attempt to increase fourth quarter profits, retailers continue to move up the holiday shopping season every year.

Kelly Maack, marketing director for Westfield Gateway located on 61st and O streets, said their department started holiday marketing slightly earlier this year. Normally their Christmas marketing begins mid November, but this year it commenced Nov. 4, she said.

Maack also said the process was sped up to coincide with the grand opening of Westfield Gateway’s new food court and carousel attractions. She said she expects the holiday marketing to return to mid November next year but can’t yet say for sure.

The mall’s addition features food venues such as Dairy Queen/Orange Julius, Subway and Panda Express, as well as a family lounge and the carousel located in the mall’s Center Court. Maack said the court also boasts a new, contemporary look with a sky light and newly re-surfaced tile flooring.

Maack said the mall’s new attractions are geared toward both children and adults. She said they hope to attract consumers who want a family environment this holiday shopping season, which begins the day after Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving marks the last leg of the race to Christmas, said Ron Hampton, UNL professor and chair of the marketing department, who also has over 30 years of retail experience.

“Many factors go into the demand of that day,” Hampton said.

People don’t have to work the Friday after Thanksgiving. This allows families to travel long distances to celebrate the day, he said.

“The generations of women in a family go out and shop together,” he said, while the men of the family go hunting or watch football on TV. “It began as an exercise of enjoyment of spending time with each other.”

It’s also a way for family members to give each other gift ideas, he said.

Southpointe Pavilions are also preparing for the day after Thanksgiving, said Julie Lattimer, pavilions marketing director. She said they expect heavy traffic, but that Thanksgiving Friday ranks second or third in terms of sales.

“Purchasing doesn’t actually happen until later in December,” Lattimer said.

The pavilions began decorating last week and advertising on the radio. Lattimer added that they’ll release adds geared toward men 10 days before Christmas.

“There’s data that shows men shop later,” she said.

Jane Stricker, co-owner of Birkenstock Footloose and Fancy at 1219 P St., said the store’s biggest consumer days come later, too.

“It’s a good day for the store, but not our best,” she said. “A lot of places offer huge sales and we don’t.”

While employees begin decorating for Christmas in early November, they don’t see a holiday rush until the week before Christmas, she said.

“We’re a destination shop,” she said. “Shoppers go to the malls and get everything they need before coming to us.”

Larger retailers offer big discount sales to attract shoppers early in the season. Using promotions and early-morning sales, retailers like Lincoln’s Best Buy, located at 400 N. 48th St., attract shoppers the day after Thanksgiving.

“It’s our biggest day of the year, every year,” said General Manager Reid Charpentier.

He’s expecting more than 1,000 shoppers to line up outside the door at 5 a.m. when the store opens. He added that sales remain high until the day after Christmas.

Hampton stressed that when to bring out holiday merchandise is often a guessing game for retailers.

“There are two kinds of shoppers: procrastinators and first-minute,” Hampton said.

Many shoppers wait till the last minute. A few even begin their Christmas shopping Dec. 26. However, most retailers begin decorating in the fall Hampton said.

“Once Halloween decorations come down, retailers go straight to Christmas,” he said.

He added retailers begin planning for Christmas long before that. Retailers start overstocking their toy sections in August.

“You start to see gifting items right after ‘Back to School,’” he said.

Hampton’s “Do’s” for holiday shopping:

* Make a list before you go and stick to it. This will save you time and money from unnecessary purchases.

* Get it early to avoid the holiday crowds. You will also have a better chance of snagging that popular item before stores sell out of it. He added that most stores will allow you to return the item if it goes on sale after you buy it for the lower price.

* Keep and organize your sales receipts. You’ll have better luck getting your money back, rather than store credit if something must be returned.

* Get up early. Many department stores offer bargains that run out early.

* Sometimes it pays to wait. If there isn’t a high demand for a product, you can buy it later.

* A gift is better than a gift certificate. Gifts certificates come from procrastinators, he said.

* Use catalogs for the hard to buy. You can find them unique, one-of-a-kind gifts.

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