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Whaddaya mean, you don't have Christmas lights? It's December 6th!

Thomas Veil

Thomas Veil

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 14, 2004
2,636
8,862
Much greener pastures
Okay, so I set out for Target this morning, because my mom needs a new set of midget lights to replace a bad portion of her pre-lit tree, and I figured I could use a set or two myself.

The Christmas lighting section of Target, which was loaded with every type of light imaginable just after Thanksgiving, was nearly empty. All that was left was some outdoor icicle lights and a few specialty types.

So I drive to the next nearest Target, only to find the same story.

Wal-Mart? Same thing.

K-Mart? Same thing.

Home Depot? Same thing.

All in all, I visited or called seven different stores, and none of them had your basic Christmas tree lights.

How can this be??

At the stores I went to, I found other customers who were just as puzzled and perplexed as I was. God help anyone who has a part of their tree go dark, 'cause they ain't gettin' any help for that this year. :(
 
Yea it's pretty disgusting how early Christmas is arriving. I was starting to hear Christmas tunes on the radio this year before thanksgiving even. Plain old ridiculous.
 
Abstract said:
Perhaps, but in this case, I don't think December 6th is unreasonably early for decoration lights to be sold out. It's not like they were sold out in the middle of November or something.
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Agreed. Christmas is only 3 weeks away.
 
Nitrus said:
Perhaps you should try CVS or Amazon!
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We've always gotten them at CVS...never been sold out in the past.

Interesting that in tough economic times stores wouldn't stock something almost guaranteed to sell. :confused:
 
OutThere said:
We've always gotten them at CVS...never been sold out in the past.

Interesting that in tough economic times stores wouldn't stock something almost guaranteed to sell. :confused:
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If Christmas lights were guaranteed to sell, stores would stock more of them. The thing is, they're not. And most any store would rather sell out before Christmas than be left with skids and skids of leftover lights to either store or, worse, sell at a loss.

I've worked retail, and the point is to sell out and be done with it, rather than have to pack everything back up.

I'd imagine the fact that there were lights left over until up to and after Christmas last year has something to do with them being sold out already this year. If they sold less-than-expected last year, they're going to order less this year.
 
synth3tik said:
You're supposed to have them up my mid-summer at the latest.
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Put the Christmas lights up all year long... nothing says Christmas like your front-yard conifer tree decorated with festive lights on July 4! Amazing how many people will stop by and compliment you...
 
Ah, the joys of being Jewish. No need to worry about Christmas lights (and that's a good thing, because you'll never see me climbing up a ladder, I hate heights) ;)
 
Around here, people start selling Christmas trees and decorations late November. But that's because we don't have Thanksgiving.
God, how I wish we had Thanksgiving.
 
Thomas Veil said:
They weren't sold out this time last year; in fact, you could find them almost up until Christmas.
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I generally have some knowledge about retailing from prior days. It is a well known fact in the retailing circles that inventory is way down this year compared to previous years, so that would explain why you say they did have lights this time last year but not so this year. Retailers have also looked at what kind of stuff they could reduce inventory and not get hit too hard. Christmas decorations can be put in that category.

And yes, it does seem weird that they dont have lights Dec 6. I would say this past weekend was probably the busiest for putting up the christmas trees.

One explantation that there might be is that a high percentage of people already own christmas tree lights, so its not like every year you get a huge rush of people needing lights. Other then that, you could have just hit it wrong. Many stores receive their shipments on Mondays and Tuesdays, so its very possible you just caught the mid-staging of the christmas season. The next shipment will keep them well-stocked until the after-Christmas sales. I tend to thing the latter is the best reason.

and yes, as others have said, the post-christmas sales on that kind of stuff is usually absurd. I remember K-mart would start out with 50% off and then progressively grow that to 90% off. Granted you cant be picky with that stuff, but I've found if you are into christmas decorations big time, then you dont care.
 
There may be another reason too.

I was shopping to replace light sets in two pre-lit trees, mine and my mom's. But when you consider that pre-lit tree sales have soared in recent years, and a lot of those trees are several years old now, we may be seeing the first of a wave of people replacing bad light sets.

Who knows? Maybe it's even a hoarding reaction by people who don't like the bluish color of the new LED lights. :D

Now, of all things, I wandered into Big Lots and Dollar General for completely different stuff, and they still have some sets. I'd have expected the opposite: that the dollar stores would sell out and not re-stock, and the bigger department stores would have enough.

Go figure.
 
yg17 said:
Ah, the joys of being Jewish. No need to worry about Christmas lights (and that's a good thing, because you'll never see me climbing up a ladder, I hate heights) ;)
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My wife and in-laws are Jewish--I must say that around this time of year(and passover) the food kicks ass that and my gentile ass doesn't have to climb on the roof either :D
 
Thomas Veil said:
There may be another reason too.

I was shopping to replace light sets in two pre-lit trees, mine and my mom's. But when you consider that pre-lit tree sales have soared in recent years, and a lot of those trees are several years old now, we may be seeing the first of a wave of people replacing bad light sets.

Who knows? Maybe it's even a hoarding reaction by people who don't like the bluish color of the new LED lights. :D

Now, of all things, I wandered into Big Lots and Dollar General for completely different stuff, and they still have some sets. I'd have expected the opposite: that the dollar stores would sell out and not re-stock, and the bigger department stores would have enough.

Go figure.
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Perhaps your theory is correct :D

All I know is that when I worked at Target a few years ago, this time of year, we had Christmas lights coming out of our backsides. One year they even had to park a semi trailer outside to store them because there wasn't enough room in the stockroom for 'em. I'm thinking part of it may have to do with the economy, although, driving around here, you wouldn't think there's any shortage of Xmas lights.
 
What are christmas lights?

I am only familiar with temporary holiday luminaries.

:D
 
Here's a cost effective way to get Xmas lights....sneak into the multiplex movie theater with a small pry bar after they close.:D
 
The Target I went into last night (Dec. 7) not only had about 15 boxes of lights left (and they were all dumb things like net lights for putting on your hedges), there were almost no ornaments, wreaths, or any kind of decorations whatsoever.

I feel really disoriented. You can buy Christmas decorations in September or October, but the second December hits, forget it. I just don't understand America anymore.
 
If every major retailer in a locale is sold out, dont be surprised if you have one of the lighting freaks who put on a show that can be seen from space.
 
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