Stores opening on Thanksgiving day for Christmas sales.

[Mr.Conley]

I can't believe it. I didn't think it was possible, but now they've managed to push the Christmas shopping season into Thanksgiving.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/23/thanksgiving.shopping.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Out of the dining room and into the stores; the traditional day of feasting has turned into a day of early holiday shopping for some.

A spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation says some retailers are trying to find a way to take advantage of the fact that "once dinner is over, many families are looking for some kind of entertainment."

One Rochester, New York-area woman -- out shopping for clothes today -- says she's did not intend to face the early "Black Friday" crowds like she did when she was younger.

For the first time, BJ's Wholesale Club and CompUSA have opened their doors on Thanksgiving, while online retailer Amazon.com offered special holiday discounts.

In the past, grocery retailers and 24-hour convenience stores like 7-Eleven Inc. were the only shopping options on Thanksgiving. Holiday gift shoppers turned to the Web or saved their breath for the next day, "Black Friday," which is considered the official kickoff to the shopping season. (Watch why shoppers will be spending less this year Video)

BJ's opened from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., while electronics retailer CompUSA Inc. opened from 9 p.m. to midnight, where state laws permit stores to be open on the holiday.

"People start kicking off their holiday shopping early," said BJ's spokeswoman Stephanie LaCroix, who expected good sales of consumer electronics such as LCD televisions, computers and iPods.

Almost 1,400 Kmart stores, owned by Sears Holdings Corp., were scheduled to be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., offering buy-one-get-one free deals on board games and a Polaroid digital camera for less than $100, among other deals, said spokeswoman Gail Lavielle.

Nichelle Thompson, 36, of Los Angeles and her 14-yer old son Justin arrived just before the opening of a Los Angeles Kmart to take advantage of a one-day sale and pick up a $54 combination DVD player and VCR.

Thompson said she decided to start her Thanksgiving with a trip to the store after seeing the player advertised in a newspaper ad. The machine is a family gift.

"Tomorrow they'll have a whole new ad. Now I have to go through and circle all the things that I want to buy tomorrow and send my husband out."

Wal-Mart, whose more than 2,000 24-hour supercenters were open on the holiday, said it planned to begin advertising eight "top secret" Black Friday deals on its Web site beginning on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven planned to offer gift cards for Apple's iTunes, Circuit City, Blockbuster, and Borders, as well as DVDs, toys, and other gift items.

As for online opportunities, Sears, Roebuck again allowed holiday shoppers to pay for Black Friday deals on its Web site on Thanksgiving, such as 20 percent off Kenmore appliances and 50 percent off certain Craftsman-branded tools. Customers can then pick up their purchases when stores open the following day, or have them shipped, said Lavielle.

Online retailer Amazon.com was also pushing for shoppers to get started a day early by holding an ongoing poll to select one steeply discounted gift item to be offered in limited supplies beginning on Thanksgiving day, on top of other deals.

The winner of the poll was Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game system, which was set to go on sale for $100 at 2 p.m. ET, beating out a Mongoose Domain Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike for $30.

"We're always open on Thanksgiving," noted spokesman Craig Berman.

"Online retailers are making Thanksgiving a huge priority, because they have no competition from stores," said Davis. "I think we're going to see that trend increasing."

 

[Mr.Conley]

In other news:
No, there is no war on Christmas. John Gibbons (?) just wanted to be even richer.

 

[Hobbit]

I refuse to use any service that requires human interaction on a day that I think all of the humans should be home celebrating...period. I won't even buy gas on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.

 

[red states rule]

In other news:
No, there is no war on Christmas. John Gibbons (?) just wanted to be even richer.

No war on Christmas? You must have "overlooked" these examples. There are more, this is just a small sample



Christmas Under Attack Nationwide
Summary: Images of Jesus Christ and Christmas trees are being censored again this Christmas season across the U.S.

The secularist/ACLU war against Christianity continues to be waged all over the U.S. this Christmas season. The ACLU has sued in various communities to ban the display of Christmas trees as "religious symbols" and a library in Connecticut has banned art that portrays Jesus Christ.

Library officials in Meriden, Connecticut, have banned five paintings of Jesus by local artist Mary Morley. The library is allowing paintings of Moses, David and Goliath, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II, and other religious figures but not Jesus.

According to Morley, library officials told her that paintings of Jesus "would cause too much upset and outcry. Isn't Jesus a historical figure?" The library says it can ban displays that are "inappropriate" or "offensive" to "any segment of the community."

Morley has contacted The Rutherford Institute to consider filing a lawsuit against the library for religious discrimination and violation of her freedom of speech.

More on this story is available here: Record-Journal.com.

In Pennsylvania, a school district and parents are arguing over whether or not to ban all Christmas celebrations, including the singing of Christmas carols.

In Colorado, the ACLU has threatened to sue a school district over Christmas celebrations, including the singing of "Jingle Bells." The ACLU claims that Jewish students don't feel "safe or welcome" in the school when Christmas is celebrated.

The school district is being defended by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). According to ADF lawyer Barry Arrington, "This is the same old ACLU ploy of fear, intimidation and disinformation." The ADF has launched a Christmas Project that provides legal information for schools facing ACLU threats. TVC has posted several links on this issue on our web site.

The attacks on Christmas are not limited to the ACLU. Corporations are now becoming "politically correct" and many are deleting any mention of Christmas in their advertising or stores. Instead, they are using words like "winter holiday" to describe the Christmas season.

In New York, public school officials are denying that Jesus was a real historical figure so they can ban Christmas!

A couple in Virginia recently started a web site to fight back against this anti-Christmas trend. The GrinchList.com site describes what companies are becoming politically correct and lists those that are still promoting Christmas. The mission of the site is to: expose [offending organizations] to the millions of consumers whose heritage is being expunged from the public cultural arena."

GrinchList founders Kirk and Amy McElwain, urge consumers to contact stores that have censored any mention of Christmas and to encourage corporations that have stood strong against the tide of political correctness.




But Wal Mart has gottten the message...........


Wal-Mart wishes you a Merry Christmas
Posted 11/8/2006 11:03 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this



By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
Wal-Mart will put "Christmas" back into the holidays this year, the retailer plans to announce Thursday.
A year after religious and other groups boycotted retailers, including Wal-Mart (WMT), for downplaying Christmas, the world's largest retail chain will have an in-your-face Christmas theme this year.

"We, quite frankly, have learned a lesson from last year," says Wal-Mart spokeswoman Linda Blakley. "We're not afraid to use the term 'Merry Christmas.' We'll use it early, and we'll use it often."

Wal-Mart told about 7,000 associates of the plans at a conference last month and "was met with rapturous applause. ... We know many of our customers will feel the same," says John Fleming, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of marketing.

Fleming says the retailer, which recently lowered prices on toys and electronics, will be pitching Christmas almost as much as "value" to holiday shoppers.

New this year:

• A TV ad trumpeting Christmas will air for the first time next week. Wal-Mart also will air TV ads along with the Salvation Army mentioning Christmas.

• The name of the department with Christmas decorating needs will change from The Holiday Shop, which it was for the past several years, to The Christmas Shop.

• Store signs will count down the days until Christmas, and Christmas carols will be piped throughout the season.

• About 60% more merchandise will be labeled "Christmas" rather than "holiday" this year over last.

The Christmas spirit is spreading. Macy's, the largest U.S. department store chain, plans to have "Merry Christmas" signs in all departments. All of Macy's window displays will have Christmas themes. At New York's Herald Square, the theme will be "Oh, Christmas Tree."

"Our intention is to make every customer feel welcomed and appreciated, whether they celebrate Christmas or other holidays," spokesman Jim Sluzewski says.

As at Wal-Mart, Macy's employees are encouraged to consider wishing customers holiday greetings that are appropriate to their race or religion, including Happy Kwanzaa or Feliz Navidad.

Sometimes, even the best intentions can backfire. The Catholic League, one of the groups fighting what it calls the Christmas Wars, says a member alerted it that Macy's was pitching a "Happy Hanukkah" gift card but not a "Merry Christmas" one.

After he was contacted by the group, Sluzewski determined a production "glitch" meant the Merry Christmas gift cards were available everywhere but in its Western region, where there were plenty of Happy Hanukkah gift cards.

"We are correcting the problem," Sluzewski says. "Of all the cards to have a glitch with."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...mas-usat_x.htm

 

[Gunny]

I can't believe it. I didn't think it was possible, but now they've managed to push the Christmas shopping season into Thanksgiving.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/23/thanksgiving.shopping.ap/index.html

Thanksgiving is nothing more than a speedbumb between Halloween and Christmas anymore. When I was a kid, it was a distinctly separate holiday with some actual meaning to it.

But lets face it, Thanksgiving does little for retail sales unless you happen to sell turkeys and beer.

 

[Nienna]

My sisters-in-law were ready to hit the mall at midnight; one local mall was opening at midnight.

 

[Gunny]

My sisters-in-law were ready to hit the mall at midnight; one local mall was opening at midnight. ;(

The only thing I hit at midnight was the bed, face down!

 

[red states rule]

So much for all the bad economy talk..............


U.S. Retailers Kick Off Holidays With Discounts, Long Hours
Friday, November 24, 2006

Bargain shoppers, many braving frigid temperatures, headed to the nation's stores and malls before the sun rose on Friday to nab specials on everything from toys to flat-screen TVs as the holiday shopping season officially opened.

In a slowing but still steady economy, retailers heightened their pitch to shoppers with expanded hours, generous discounts and free money in the form of gift cards. A growing number of stores and malls threw open their doors at midnight to jump-start the season. CompUSA Inc. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) even opened on Thanksgiving for the first time to grab customer dollars before the competition does.

"Retailers are doing more to get consumers into the stores earlier this year," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, based in Charleston, S.C.

At a Wal-Mart (WMT) store in Cincinnati, Gary Miller, a 45-year-old computer programmer, was on the hunt for a 20-inch LCD television that he had seen advertised online.

"My wife sent me out for this one," he said, pointing to the television in his shopping cart. "But then I saw this one (a 20-inch conventional TV) for $85 and said, what the heck, I'll get that one, too."

Meanwhile, Monica Midkiff, a 27-year-old homemaker from Peebles, Ohio, said she got up at 3:30 a.m. to go to Wal-Mart for a VTech game system.

"They usually cost about $60, but this was on sale for $30. That's a deal," she said.

Midkiff said she was on her way next to KB Toys and Toys "R" Us while her husband took care of their five children. She said she didn't mind the crowded stores on Friday morning.

"That place was crazy — a madhouse," she said.

Also at the Wal-Mart in Cincinnati was Clint Stapleton, 20, a construction worker from Mount Orab, who said he was happy with the deal he got on one of Wal-Mart's featured items, a 32-inch LCD TV. He said he paid $630 for a TV that usually costs about $1,000.

"After I got that, I said, that's enough, but I think I'll still look for an Xbox somewhere," Stapleton said.

In Albany, Ga., Cheryl Haley, 37, was among the 300 people lined up outside a Circuit City store when it opened at 5 a.m.

"This is the only thing on my little boy's list," said Haley, of Albany, Ga., pointing to the store circular advertising a $299 laptop. "I couldn't pay $800 for it."

She and her sister, Wendy Blount, 35, of nearby Lee County, argued over who earned the spot at the head of the line.

"I drove her here, so I'm first," Blount said.

Eric Gordon, 30, of Albany, arrived half an hour before the store opened — far too late to get one of the limited number of bargain computers.

"I should have stayed in bed and shopped online," he said. He noted it was his first Black Friday shopping experience.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which promised its most aggressive price strategy ever this holiday season, is using heavily discounted TVs, such as a Viore 42-inch plasma TV for $988, to attract shoppers to its doors for its 5 a.m. opening on Black Friday, so named because it is traditionally when a surge of shopping makes stores profitable for the year.

Meanwhile, Sears Holdings Corp.'s Sears, Roebuck and Co., (SHLD) which opened at 5 a.m. Friday, one hour earlier than a year ago, was giving out $10 reward cards for the first 200 shoppers who showed up. Other early bird specials include Protron 37-inch LCD HDTVs for $949.99 and 50 percent discounts on many toys. At Sears Holdings' Kmart stores, shoppers will find 50 percent discounts on men's and women's outerwear as part of its early morning doorbusters.

While Black Friday officially starts holiday shopping, it's generally no longer the busiest day of the season — that honor now falls to the last Saturday before Christmas. But stores see Black Friday as setting an important tone to the overall season: What consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the season.

Last year, total Black Friday sales dipped 0.9 percent to $8 billion from the year before, dampened by deep discounting, according to Shopper Trak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000 mall-based retail outlets. For the Thanksgiving weekend, total sales rose just 0.4 percent to $16.8 billion.

Still, last year merchants ended up meeting their holiday sales projections, helped by a last-minute buying surge and post-Christmas shopping.

This year, analysts expect robust holiday sales gains for the overall retail industry, though the pace is expected to be slower than a year ago. The National Retail Federation projects a 5 percent gain in total holiday sales for the November-December period, less than the 6.1 percent in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, the International Council of Shopping Centers estimates sales at stores open at least a year will rise 3 percent in the November-December period, less than last year's 3.6 percent.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,231679,00.html

 

[Nienna]

I feel so blessed... I just wait until most people have gone back to work, and shop during the day. Or do it online. Usually go out shopping one day with my best friend, but that's more of a "girls' day out" than an "I have to get this shopping finished" kind of outing.

Last year was the first year since I have been married that the holidays were not a complete stress. We severely cut the gift-giving. It was a breath of fresh air. Hope we're allowed to do it that way again this year.

 

[Nienna]

The only thing I hit at midnight was the bed, face down!

I actually dozed off on my husband's shoulder while we were all sitting around the living room talking after dinner. All I'd had was a couple sips of wine, but the cleaning, baking, organizing, corralling four kids... after that, I was WORN OUT!

 

[CockySOB]

In other news:
No, there is no war on Christmas. John Gibbons (?) just wanted to be even richer.

Actually, the secular war on Christmas is in full swing. Obviously trying to eliminate the holiday all together would never work, so another tactic was required - subversion. And over the years, Christmas has been subverted away from its Judeo-Christian, and towards other secular and heathen rituals, including of course, refocusing from Christ to mammon.

War on Christmas? Better believe it, bub.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Actually, the secular war on Christmas is in full swing. Obviously trying to eliminate the holiday all together would never work, so another tactic was required - subversion. And over the years, Christmas has been subverted away from its Judeo-Christian, and towards other secular and heathen rituals, including of course, refocusing from Christ to mammon.

War on Christmas? Better believe it, bub.

Let me edit that a bit: It's a War on Christianity. Christmas is just one very public battle in that war.