Bay Area Retailers Try To Lure Shoppers Into The Holiday Spirit
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Halloween quickly gave way to Christmas in Bay Area shopping malls. Even though the winter holiday was still weeks away, retailers were hopeful that consumers were in the gift-giving mood.
KCBS' Mike Sugerman Reports From His Travels, About the Bay:
One survey even found that more than one-quarter of Americans had started shopping already. Stores weren't wasting any time capitalizing on the potential for holiday sales.
While some Bay Area residents were glued to their televisions over the weekend watching World Series baseball, others were hitting the malls. Some big chains like Target and Sears began offering Christmas specials before the calendar even turned to November.
"I like Christmas and it couldn't come soon enough," declared one shopper. "I think it warms people a little bit. I think violence is down a bit during the holidays."
Overall, consumers said they planned to spend about as much as last year, which was just over $700 on average.
"The economy got to me so I can't start, unfortunately," one woman said, contradicting that cash register prediction. "I'm looking for a job."
Others took a more measured approach to early holiday shopping.
"I have time to look and really concentrate on what I'd like to get him," one woman explained her strategy while shopping for her significant other.
"I'm surprised it doesn't start on December 26th anymore, you know," one man playfully suggested.
For some, consumerism was a turnoff, no matter when the holiday sales began.
"I think the whole Madison Avenue thing is just pretty pathetic," one man opined. "They're starting kids younger and younger, they're starting them on this whole concept of having to buy things earlier and earlier each year."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
