Thanksgiving has long been the unofficial start of the Christmas season. Just as quickly as the Thanksgiving dinner is finished people start to think about Christmas, and the biggest component of the holiday season is the shopping that takes place.
It seems like the holiday shopping season is starting earlier than the day after Thanksgiving. Many retailers have already put out their Christmas merchandise and have jump started their Christmas marketing in hopes that customers will notice and spend.
With the uptick of consumer spending over the last four months, many retailers are hoping that consumers will continue the trend throughout the holiday season. More than ever stores are relying on the holidays to help bring back customers who have drastically changed their shopping habits since the beginning of the economic downtown.
All the initiatives and sales have brought some customers back but some weary customers are not willing to open their wallets freely.
Salt Lake Community College student Justin Gilles said, “I don’t want to overspend because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” referring to the economy being a reason why he is still nervous about holiday shopping.
Student Monica Prows shared the same sentiment about why she is being cautious about her Christmas spending. “[You] don’t want to spend too much and then lose your job,” she said.
So what’s a good solution to avoid over spending? Find out what you plan to spend before ever steeping foot into the store.
To help manage his holiday spending, Giles said that before he goes Christmas shopping he prefers to go online to have a better idea on what he plans on buying and to look for any deals that can help him save some money.
“I figure out what people want…then I do some [online] research on stores so I can get the best deal,” Giles said.
For the shopper who likes to wait for the traditional “Black Friday” shopping they can now start on Thanksgiving night. Fashion Place mall announced on Tuesday that they will open on Thanksgiving night at 9 p.m. and South Town Mall will be opening at 12 a.m. on Friday morning in hopes that anxious customers will help jump start Christmas shopping in there malls.
Student Justin Tsosie has braved the Thanksgiving crowds in the past but won’t be doing so this year.
“Unfortunately… I won’t be joining the mass crowds at midnight for shopping,” he said.
Tsosie was laid off in May. Not having a steady source of income, Tsosie said he’ll be scrounging instead of spending money.
Despite being unemployed Tsosie said that he still plans on celebrating the holidays but on a much smaller scale than previous years.
“It’s different not being able to spend money on people who I love, it doesn’t really seem like the holidays,” he said.