The New York Times reports this morning that Wal-Mart will inaugurate the 2007 holiday shopping season by offering “door-buster discounts this Friday, three weeks before they are traditionally unveiled on the day after Thanksgiving.
“The giant discount chain is expected to announce a plan today to sell five major products — like a $350 laptop — beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday in a bold effort to jump start holiday shopping two days after Halloween.”
The move by Wal-Mart seems aimed at getting out in front of its competitors, but the Times suggests that “the pre-Thanksgiving price-cutting underscores how worried the retail industry is about consumer spending this season. With the housing market in a slump and energy prices high, industry analysts expect retail sales in November and December to grow at the slowest rate in five years.”
“The giant discount chain is expected to announce a plan today to sell five major products — like a $350 laptop — beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday in a bold effort to jump start holiday shopping two days after Halloween.”
The move by Wal-Mart seems aimed at getting out in front of its competitors, but the Times suggests that “the pre-Thanksgiving price-cutting underscores how worried the retail industry is about consumer spending this season. With the housing market in a slump and energy prices high, industry analysts expect retail sales in November and December to grow at the slowest rate in five years.”
- KC's View:
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At first, my reaction to this story was utter amazement that we’ve gotten to the point where we’re talking about holiday shopping before Halloween. I felt the same way the other day when I was in Costco and noticed that they’ve already started putting up decorations and holiday-themed promotions.
But I have to be honest. I’ve already started creating Christmas lists on Amazon, trying to figure out what is going to appeal to which kid this year. So I – like a lot of consumers – have bought into the early holiday buying notion as well…though my goal, as in previous years, is to avoid brick-and-mortar stores as much as possible.
