Less than 24 hours after Halloween, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at local shopping centers.
Woodland Hills Mall announced this week Santa was coming on November 3rd, 52 days before Christmas. Retailers are not necessarily trying to get into your pocketbook, instead they're trying to get Christmas on your mind.
The decorations, the displays, the signs are all point to one thing Christmas is here, even if the calendar says something different, for the next eight weeks it’s a pseudo-winter-wonderland.
“The Christmas season is really important, it's really busy in traffic and we have a lot of people visiting us that season,” Eileen Neighbors, Marketing Director with Tulsa Promenade, said.
Tulsa Promenade is gearing up to welcome the big guy himself.
“Our Santa officially arrives November 17th via helicopter,” Neighbors said.
With $469 billion worth of holiday sales on the line, malls want shoppers thinking Christmas.
“Traditionally, malls get started and get it going, and make sure it's a pleasant experience for shoppers,” Neighbors told FOX23.
Some Tulsans would like to put the brakes on the early season's greetings.
“Two weeks ago, I walked into a Walmart store and heard Christmas carols, and it bothered me,” Jody Thomas said.
On Thursday, the high in Tulsa was 84 degrees, not exactly tree trimming weather.
“This is not a Christmas spirit day,” Thomas said.
FOX23 did find one person who was happy about the earlier start to the holiday season, Santa. In this case, St. Nick being portrayed by
Tulsan Chris Capstone.
“Well I am always happy to see everyone, it gives me a chance to visit with more and more children and that's my job,” Capstone told FOX23.
The premature decorations may be too late for some. The National Retail Federation says a quarter of all Americans already have their whole list checked off before November even starts.
