The Holidays are Upon Us
Decatur Metro | November 5, 2009Wondering why you’re feeling a little extra weight on your shoulders this morning?
It’s because Halloween is over and the “holiday” season has just begun! Stores are stocking red and green and putting all their shiniest merchandise on the shelves. That goes for Decatur too.
Over on the Minute, Lyn Menne seems resigned to the noise she will hear from residents as the city’s street decorations start to appear in very early November.
OK, go ahead and vent. Get it out of your system and then just relax and enjoy the beautiful site of holiday decorations in downtown Decatur. Yes, the holiday decorations are going up and yes it’s a bit earlier than we had scheduled. As we’ve explained before, we are a relatively small account for holiday decorating installers so we are given a window of opportunity and then see where we fall in their schedule.
And while some may complain as the “holiday season” dilutes itself by climbing further up the calendar towards the 4th of July each year, few will complain that with November starts the great Decatur tradition of “Terrific Thursdays” (click the the lovely banner at the top of the page for more details). Stores are open late and offering big ol’ discounts starting tonight! So get out there are do what the banner says! “Shop Local. Shop Decatur.”
Full Disclosure: The banner above IS a paid advertisement. However even if it wasn’t, I’d still be shouting the same thing, as is evidenced by countless posts in previous years!
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DM — There’s no shame in try’na make a living. If not for advertisers, you’d either need to send all your regulars an invoice or file for 501(c)3 status. You gots to git paid!
No shame here! I just want to be as upfront as possible about these things.
BTW…you’re invoice is in the mail, Scott. Pay before Thanksgiving to avoid substantial penalties!
Sheez, DM– I hope YOU’RE just joking about charging Scott for YOUR services…
(Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.)
I would also advise to shop early rather than later. Several of the merchants I have spoken to say they have reduced their inventory because of the economy, and also that some have had a hard time getting certain items in because their vendors aren’t producing as much this year. As always, I will do all my gift buying from local merchants to add $$ to my local economy.
Aw, this is nothing to complain about. When Costco put out their Christmas merchandise in September (or maybe it was even the end of August?), that was extreme.
Agreed. That freaked me out. It literally was the end of August when I noticed the first Christmas items showing up there. Wanted to smack somebody.
As a huge fan of holiday lights, I’m of the firm belief that earlier is fine. As long as it’s after Halloween, I’m okay with it (especially since it coincided with Daylight Savings time this year). Moreover, it’s always been depressing to me when the lights come down in January. We still have three months of long, cold nights to deal with. Seems like twinkly lights would make winter easier to bear.
The wreaths haven’t gone up yet, but the trees in both of the turnarounds (in front of Brickstore/courthouse and in front of Eddie’s Attic/town hall) are wrapped beautifully in lights. I don’t recall this being done previously. Is this new?
Yep, the tree lights are new this year and a few more will still be going up. Glad to hear that you like them Lump and I couldn’t agree more about the depression that occurs each year when the decorations come down. I think we’ll leave the tree lights in throughout the dreary winter season . . . will that make you feel better?
Yes, the new tree lights were so beautiful last night, please leave them for awhile. I cannot wait for the rest. Also, I used a pedicab for the first time last night. That was cool and now, my teenage son, who rode with me, wants to become a pedicab driver as his career choice.
I agree with lump–the new tree lights are very pretty–it is new and they are more eco-friendly than old-fashioned lights.
Yup. Just clicked through to the Decatur Minute (I need to just do that before posting next time) and saw they were LEDs.
We’ve held off on upgrading our home light strings to LEDs for the last couple years, waiting for the incandescent strings to die (as they inevitably will). Because while LEDs are indeed greener, throwing out something that already works is the biggest affront to the environment of all.
Amen Lump!
As much as the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s-Valentine’s Day grind is exhausting and endless with home, school, work, religious activities, the kids do love it. I just wish that the Holiday Inn Santa event would happen earlier. What’s the point of getting your shopping done early if your child is going to go sit on Santa’s lap just two weeks before Xmas and pour out their heart about their favorite item in the whole world that you didn’t know they wanted! (Everything else about that event is great, fire truck, tap dancing, and all!)
When I was at Target last week buying Halloween candy, the Halloween section had already been condensed to make way for the beginnings of the Christmas stuff. Some little kid – maybe 4 – threw a FIT: “What are the Christmas trees doing here? It’s Halloween! IT’S HALLOWEEN!!!!!” People were cheering her on – it was hilarious.
That’s how I felt a few years ago, trying to find a beach chair for my long-awaited sojourn on the sand. In late July, ALL of the stores had replaced their summer merchandise with back-to-school stuff. It was barbaric. (I know, kids need supplies when they need ‘em. But I’m not one, and my summer still lasts ’til Labor Day!)
That big box store with all the orange signs and aprons :-)is giving $3 off any string of LED lights if you turn in an old string of Christmas lights.