It seems that with each passing year, retailers are getting earlier and earlier starts on promoting items for Christmas. Not all consumers like the practice, but as a RetailWire poll last November showed, most (65 percent) thought that an early start amounted to a competitive advantage during the holiday selling season.
One retailer that has held out against an early start has been Nordstrom, which has maintained that stores won't get dressed up for Christmas until Black Friday. At least that's what people in Seattle thought until they saw the windows at Nordstrom's downtown store there.
According to a report (along with photos) by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the store's windows include golden jingle bells decorations and messages such as "Create the joy" and "Mingle before the jingle."
Brooke White, a spokesperson for Nordstrom, said the store's windows were not a Christmas display (everyone would see what a Christmas display was on Black Friday), but a nod to the spirit of entertaining.
"It's really kind of speaking to the season of getting together," Ms. White told the news site.
As to whether Nordstrom was splitting hairs with its explanation, a poll on the Post-Intelligencer site found that 57 percent thought the windows were "obviously all about Christmas and New Years," while only 18 percent thought the displays were "not holiday decorations."