Fighting for your holiday dollar: Halloween v Christmas

Shopping in a big box hardware store in early October I had the pleasure of viewing Halloween decorations on one side of the aisle and Christmas on the other. I say pleasure, because instead of fighting it, I try to ignore the retail world’s impatience to be the first out of the gate with the various holidays. In early October, one can tweak their Halloween decorations while perusing the new offerings for Christmas. If someone needs replacement bulbs at least the store is meeting the needs of its customers.

Christmas in July 

Every year the rush to be the first retailer for any particular holiday gets earlier and earlier. Can’t say when it started but it seems like in the last five or ten years Christmas comes earlier. Soon Christmas in July won’t be a fun summer celebration but the real thing.

The holidays themselves can’t be moved (Or can they?) Halloween and Christmas have been set dates since ancient times. Doubtful a special interest lobby is going to get Congress to change the dates, but you never can tell.  The commercialism of the holidays is the variable. It comes down to being the first to grab the customer. Black Friday sales used to start at normal business hours on the day after Thanksgiving. Can’t move the Friday after Thanksgiving but retailers can open their doors whenever they want. The sales started to creep earlier, beginning at six AM, four AM, then midnight. Then the “Black Friday” sales started in the evening hours on Thanksgiving then the morning of Thanksgiving. It starts with one major retailer, then someone else will open earlier, then another and another. Until the whole holiday weekend is sales, sales, sales.

Most shoppers feel that Black Friday has encroached too much on Thanksgiving, starting too soon. But those feelings didn’t keep them away from computers. While 2015 brick and mortar Black Friday sales were down approximately 9%, online sales jumped 14%. (Variety of sources)

Impatience 

Is it the impatience of the consumers or the retailers? What is driving the need to get the next holiday merchandise on the shelves before the present holiday has arrived?  Although consumers will grab anything on sale, the drive for early holiday shopping seems to be the need for retailers to capture their market share. As individual retailers look at their bottom line the next big promotion is driven by current sales. Didn’t do well with back to school? Get out the Halloween stock. Don’t usually sell that much candy or ghoulish decorations? Clear more shelves for Christmas. If a retailer knows that they don’t do particularly well during a certain holiday they’ll try to start snagging shoppers for the next.

Rarely do retailers advertise Christmas items on “sale”. They just appear on the shelves next to costumes and Jack O’ Lanterns. Buyers have little product comparison and probably feel they are getting a good deal buying their supplies two months early.  Too much might be too much. In 2015, Target took some media heat when it ran commercials in October that had combined Halloween/Christmas themes.  

It’s like ready the Sunday comics on Saturday, it’s just not done. Stores can stock the shelves as early as they want, I’ll at least wait for the holiday month to start looking.

No candy

Can you believe Halloween is next week? Retailers have even begun stocking Christmas decorations. Crazy, yeah, but let’s deal with Halloween first which is not a fun time of year for all. Safety and protecting children is always on parents’ minds. One topic that comes up every year is the identification of sexual predators in the community and whether or not such identification infringes on that person’s safety and rights.

Throughout the U.S., states have programs that prohibit registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween activities such as decorating or passing out candy. Many require that offenders notify the public by placing a sign on their residence indicating that they have no candy. MD Dept of Parole and Probation, who manages the Sex Offender Registry, has had a similar policy since 2005.

On October 14, 2015, A Federal lawsuit was filed in California claiming that such laws violate the First Amendment and puts sex offenders on parole in danger. The argument being that the signs compel speech and identify offenders who have no means to protect themselves due to not being able to possess firearms.

In 2012, Sex offenders in Simi Valley, CA successfully challenged a city ordinance in Federal Court citing a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Lawyers for the group California Reform Sex Offender Laws, CA RSOL, filed a lawsuit in Federal court during September 2013. That suit alleged that the city of Orange is violating sex offenders First Amendment rights by requiring the posting of signs on Halloween night. Lawyers felt that the ordinance placed sex offenders at risk. They also cited that there had not been a documented incident of a sex offender harming a child on Halloween night.

However these cases play out in court, nothing protects our children more than being involved. Chaperone your children, know where they’re going. Watch for and report suspicious activity.

Halloween safety brochure

Infringing on the right to pass out candy

As Halloween approaches and we send our kids roaming through the neighborhoods to gather their yearly haul of treats safety should always be on parent’s minds. Visibility, safe costumes, etc. are always checked off. But do we pay attention to the neighborhoods in which our children trick or treat? And from whom the treats are obtained? Hopefully, parents escort younger children. Older children that go unescorted can also find themselves in dangerous situations.

In recent years, communities have required that registered sex offenders identify their homes with either a “sex offender” or “no candy” sign”. MD Dept of Parole and Probation, who manages the Sex Offender Registry, has had this policy since 2005.

In 2012, Sex offenders in Simi Valley, CA successfully challenged a city ordinance in Federal Court citing a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Lawyers for the group California Reform Sex Offender Laws, CA RSOL, filed a lawsuit in Federal court during September 2013. The suit alleges that the city of Orange is violating sex offenders First Amendment rights by requiring the posting of signs on Halloween night. Lawyers feel that the ordinance places sex offenders at risk. They also cite that there has not been a documented incident of a sex offender harming a child on Halloween night.

Should sex offenders be allowed to pass out candy on Halloween? Communities are saying no. One court has said yes. Expect the California rulings to pick up steam each year as more suits are filed.

Parents should know the neighborhoods and for the most part the homes the children are visiting. There are also many online resources to assist parents in their research.

Neighborhood research