Merry scary Hallowthanksmas: Stores celebrate all the holidays, all at once, thanks to holiday creep
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
It鈥檚 Hallowthanksmas at Rustic Creations in Tanger Outlets, where store owner Chris Perkins offers the scents of fall and Christmas to shoppers all year long. Perkins said folks have already dropped in to ogle the sparkling tree and purchase holiday gifts.
Chris Perkins set out his holiday scents at the end of September at Rustic Creations in Tanger Outlets, and visitors already have made Christmas purchases. Perkins said life is short, and you may as well celebrate all the seasons all year long. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
A Hallothanksmas sign greets Rustic Creations customers at Tanger Outlets in South Strabane Township.
It鈥檚 winter-fall at Kirkland鈥檚, where customers can purchase snowmen and pumpkins in one svelte swoop. Big-box stores and local retailers are embracing 鈥渉oliday creep鈥� and celebrating the holidays early this year. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Staci Jones has been pouring pumpkin candles since August, and this year debuted her holiday scents a month early. Folks, she said, are excited to pick up gingerbread and spiced winter tea candles from Chloe & Me along Monongahela鈥檚 West Main Street and at fall festivals throughout Washington and Greene counties. (Photo courtesy of Staci Jones)
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Halloween is not yet come and gone, and Thanksgiving鈥檚 still on the horizon, but Christmastime has arrived at many storefronts.
鈥淭he tree is staying up all year,鈥� said Chris Perkins, who owns Rustic Creations at Tanger Outlets. 鈥淚t makes people happy. It puts people in a better mood. I had people, they鈥檙e like 鈥� we needed to come in to see the tree.鈥�
Rustic Creations visitors are greeted by a sign that reads 鈥淗allowThanksMas,鈥� a mash-up of the holidays for which stores are simultaneously decked out. A Christmas countdown cheerfully sits atop Rustic Creations鈥� checkout counter, and stockings hang by the decorative chimney, with care.
鈥淚 like to celebrate Christmas before Halloween. The tree has Christmas ornaments on it, has fall leaves on it, and I just got a full-size human skeleton 鈥� fake, of course,鈥� Perkins laughed, adding he sold 10 Christmas gifts in one day last week. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just like, why not? Life鈥檚 too short. Fall is a happy time. There鈥檚 a lot of stuff to celebrate.鈥�
Before Hallowthanksmas was defined by urbandictionary in 2008 as 鈥渁 time of great warmth, sharing, parties, and of great American commercialism,鈥� folks referred to the early arrival of red and green in stores as 鈥淐hristmas creep.鈥�
The term entered common parlance in 1968, in a Los Angeles Times article detailing the early arrival of Santa Claus to malls. Holiday celebrations, it seems, begin earlier with each passing year.
Now, Halloween arrives in stores by August. Retail Thanksgiving falls in October, and the Christmas season starts somewhere between late summer and late fall.
And we call it 鈥渉oliday creep.鈥�
鈥淚 think the stores, at least in part, are motivated by the fact that people tend to spend money at the holidays,鈥� said Dr. Elizabeth Bennett, chair of Washington & Jefferson College鈥檚 psychology department. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing it earlier, trying to get us to open our pocketbooks earlier.鈥�
Black Friday used to herald in the holiday shopping season, but Target last month announced its Deal Days: Special sales that run Oct. 6 through 8 online and in stores.
鈥淭he holidays are a treasured time when our guests come together with family and friends to celebrate the joy of the season, and we鈥檙e here to make that as easy as possible for them to enjoy,鈥� Christina Hennington, executive vice president and chief growth officer, Target, said in a news release. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e rolling out deals earlier than ever and ensuring our team is ready to help our guests shop when and how they want.鈥�
Target announced plans to hire up to 100,000 seasonal team members who will provide 鈥渁n unmatched holiday shopping experience,鈥� the retailer said.
Not to be outdone, online retail giant Amazon announced its first-ever Prime Early Access Sale, a member-exclusive deals bonanza for early shoppers.
Prime Early Access Sale, which looks a lot like Amazon鈥檚 annual Prime Day, runs Oct. 11 and 12. It鈥檚 meant to 鈥渒ick off the holiday season,鈥� Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, said in a news release.
According to a poll conducted last month by the National Retail Federation, 41% of consumers plan to Christmas shop before November begins. Of those shoppers, 38% plan to make holiday purchases earlier in the season than usual.
That鈥檚 up from the 36% of consumers who planned to get a jump start on seasonal shopping in 2021.
Big-box and small retailers are playing to their audiences, offering Christmas cheer alongside Thanksgiving decor and Halloween candy. Walmart鈥檚 ready for Christmas; Kirkland鈥檚 is bedecked in fall and winter d茅cor, and David and Kelly O鈥橞rien, who own Uniontown Liquidation at Uniontown Mall, are already offering holiday layaway.
鈥淪he started them, oh, gosh, I think in August. People have started layaways,鈥� said Lou Ann Hunchuck, general manager of Uniontown Mall. 鈥淢y Bath and Body Works store said that when we have our Halloween event (at the end of October), they鈥檒l be in Christmas mode.鈥�
So, too, will the mall itself: Hunchuck said her staff will deck the halls within the next couple weeks.
鈥淲e start about the third week in October, to get all my decorations in the commons hung up,鈥� she said.
Staci Dvorshock, who owns Chloe & Me in Monongahela, started pouring pumpkin candles in August. She normally waits until November to bring out the cozy Christmas scents, but this year, she鈥檚 already started selling holiday candles at local craft shows and festivals.
鈥淚 was like, I鈥檓 done with pumpkin. Let鈥檚 just bring them (Christmas scents) out and see how they do,鈥� Dvorshock said. 鈥淎nd people were kind of feeling the same way. I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 because we released them earlier 鈥� everyone wants the balsam and fir. Spiced winter tea, it鈥檚 selling out right now, and pine.鈥�
Despite memes mocking 鈥渉oliday creep鈥� and eye rolls when shoppers pass by Christmas lights and reindeer sleighs in October, Americans are more than willing to holiday shop 鈥檛il they drop, even if it means peppermint everything before the leaves change.
Christmas in October is practical, considering inflation and lingering pandemic supply chain issues. The NRF reported that for 58% of consumers, holiday sales and promotions are more important this year than last.
It鈥檚 also sentimental.
鈥淲ith the pandemic, one of the things that happened is that a lot of the things that make us feel happy, that make us feel connected to other people, got disrupted,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淎s a community, we鈥檙e putting up our decorations; there鈥檚 a sense of bonding.鈥�
A sense of bonding fuels individual holiday prep, and memories make the initial shock of red and green in early October 鈥� prime orange, black and purple season 鈥� nostalgic.
鈥淎ttitudes have two components. There鈥檚 a cognitive piece 鈥� and there鈥檚 an emotional piece. The cognitive piece of seeing those things out early is, it鈥檚 marketing. They鈥檙e trying to manipulate me,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淭he emotional piece is still that sense of joy we all get from picking out a gift for someone, sharing a gift-giving season. We鈥檙e drawn to it, in part, because when we鈥檙e in the presence of something, the emotional piece of our attitude tends to be the bigger predictor of our behavior.鈥�
But nostalgia can throw off our sense of time.
鈥淲e all use certain kinds of cultural things to think about where we are in the year, and timing of things. When businesses move up the timing, it throws off our sense of the pace of our lives, the pace of the year, what month we鈥檙e in, on a micro scale,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淲e start to feel behind. The Halloween candy has been out for so long. I keep 鈥� thinking to myself, I don鈥檛 have candy yet. Should I be worried? I鈥檝e got lots of time. I don鈥檛 need to stress about that.鈥�
Some local retailers aren鈥檛 stressed about getting ahead. Lowry鈥檚 Western Shop, a Washington staple for 50 years, doesn鈥檛 plan to decorate for Christmas until at least mid-November, and The Ivy Green flower shop will transition to Christmas a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.
Though Washington Crown Center Mall will have Toys for Tots on site every Saturday in November, and will host a special holiday event in early December, the mall will celebrate Christmas closer to the traditional holiday calendar.
鈥淪anta arrives on Nov. 17,鈥� said Washington Crown Center assistant marketing director Civil Knox.
Santa Claus鈥� busy season is still weeks away, but America is in full holiday creep mode 鈥� and Perkins said not to fight the Hallowthanksmas celebrations.
鈥淛ust embrace it. The older you get, the faster it goes,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very January first, you鈥檙e like, oh, it鈥檚 a brand new year and boom, it鈥檚 Christmas again. I keep my (holiday) stuff out all year round. People just love it. I think it鈥檚 because it鈥檚 that coziness to it. You might as well enjoy it.鈥�