Sea, Christmas and Sun

Selfridges is getting ready to celebrate Christmas – and is encouraging us to do the same – by launching its Christmas season next Monday, its earliest ever opening.

To justify kicking off the festivities 145 days before the actual day, the store used the well-known pretext of ‘responding to consumer demand’.

Yes previous sales had shown that some customers, especially overseas tourists, started thinking about Christmas during August which obviously represents a great opportunity for the store to increase its profits but what about the Christmas spirit?

Isn’t Christmas so special and still so popular because it is fleeting?

By spreading Christmas over four months, it will not only dilute its meaning (even more than it already is) but will also make people tired of it before the annoying Christmas ads have even started.

Even more worrying, given the fierce competition amongst retailers, it is also an invitation for the others to raise the bar and start their Christmas season sooner next year.”

Christmas is coming earlier each year” says a spokesperson from Selfridges.  Well, I don’t know for you, but my calendar hasn’t changed and Christmas is still on 25 December.

Instead, how about making some Christmas must-haves available throughout the year for the fanatics and launching the Christmas season at an acceptable time, i.e. when people aren’t thinking about barbecues and sun cream?

In the meantime, I will try to explain to my niece in vain, that yes Santa Claus will bring her a Barbie but she’ll need to be patient, very patient.