Thursday, August 27, 2009

Costco Capturing the Moment or Capitalizing Early ...Yikes !! 118 days till x-mas

Big Box Store can't start to early,.......lol, Guess I'll have to wait until Christmas to buy a new BBQ ........................hahahahah

what a bunch of greedy pigs,.........and Costco isn't any better....................lol\

                

Strolling through the cavernous shopping mecca on a bright and sunny day, outdoor temperature 24C, noting the products for sale: A crock pot, six replacement heads for an Oral-B electric toothbrush, a pack of 36-AA batteries, an electric fireplace, a digital piano, the latest Kathy Reichs novel, a life-size bronze coloured statue of Father Christmas, holiday gift wrap ...

Say what? Isn’t this still summer?

Apparently not at Costco, where the retail giant has taken a giant step forward in terms of seasonal items.

Call it Christmas in August.

Slap dab in the middle of the patio furniture and the Halloween Tinkerbell costumes are two aisles of Christmas-themed items, everything from plastic garlands, LED lights for the tree, Christmas crackers, holiday greeting cards, red and gold candle sets, ceramic reindeer knick-knacks and hand-made gift cards to tuck on your presents.

“We’re always one season ahead of everyone else,” said a Costco greeter who is not allowed, by store policy, to speak for the chain or give her name.

Costco’s sole Canadian corporate affairs spokesperson is on vacation and not available to comment about the chain’s policies to The Gazette.

Other employees said it’s always been this way since the store opened in 1992 – Christmas items are on the shelves by the third week in August.

“People learn to buy things as soon as they see them because, otherwise, they’re gone the next time they come,” another employee said.

“Isn’t it usually October for this stuff?” shopper Mina Comodini asked as she surveyed the Christmas wares.

“It’s getting earlier and earlier every year, and I think it’s just marketing, to put out as much stuff as they can to get people excited.”

“We’re still in summer! I can’t even look at it, I’m just not there yet,” said Tina Sioufi, pushing a shopping cart with her two daughters in matching outfits.

“I’m an American and I’m used to the stores pushing a switch for Christmas right after (U.S.) Thanksgiving,” Sioufi said.

“It’s too early,” her 6-year-old daughter Isabella said.

Nevertheless, in a Costco world, a snow-thrower is stacked right beside vinyl barbecue covers and garden hose nozzles.

And, said the employees, all the other big discount stores are doing the same thing.

Um, no they’re not, as a quick trip to LaSalle confirmed.

The Walmart off Angrignon Blvd. has no Christmas items for sale yet. They don’t have the space, explained a greeter.

The prime spot for seasonal items, just inside the front doors, is chockablock with backpacks, notebooks, pencil cases and other items for the back-to-school crowd.

Store employees said that once the back-to-school rush is over, Halloween items will be put out, and after those, then come the Christmas decorations and accessories.

Over at Zeller’s in the Angrignon Shopping Centre, good old-fashioned Canadian common sense is at play.

There are displays of canning supplies, jars and lids, and that’s about it for the seasonal items.

“Usually the Christmas stuff comes out after Halloween, or just before, around Oct. 15,” said a female employee stocking the shelves. “Certainly never before Oct. 1.”

Hang on to your sun hats for this fact: 118 more shopping days until Christmas.

asutherland@thegazette.canwest.com

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