In the Toronto Michael’s store today, I was annoyed to find a full display table and shelves of Chanukah merchandise.
In case you weren't aware, we're currently right in the middle of a month of wonderful, major Jewish holidays - all far more significant than Chanukah, which is a relatively minor holiday.
It seems that even with a fairly large religious Jewish clientele, nobody on staff has had the imagination to come up with a Jewish “fall holidays / harvest” theme to stave off the blue, white and silver just a few weeks longer.
It takes a lot to offend me [ha ha ha… what they don’t know won’t hurt them], and this display certainly did. Think of it as tearing down the Xmas displays in December to make room for Valentine’s Day kitsch and maybe you'll understand why.
strange succah decorations, maybe really for Purim?
ReplyDeleteWell, since Chanuka coincides with their major holiday, it must be that it's *our* major holiday as well. Didn'tcha know?
ReplyDeleteI totally hear you! I've started seeing it, too, and it's not time yet. Count me as another complaint lady. :)
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered why stores can't stay closer to the appropriate holidays for the season. It really irks me to see holiday stuff out months in advance! OK, so where I live all I see is the *other* holiday stuff, I would actually be thrilled to see Chanukah stuff out ANYWHERE around here :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I think we could be friends (albeit ideologically diverse). If it makes you feel any better, I walked through a department store the other day dragging my three mortified children and commenting in my loud mommy voice that "Apparently these people can't read a calendar!! Don't they know that there is still Halloween and Thanksgiving before Christmas? This blatant commercialism is offensive. YES! I said offensive! Christmas is about Jesus and not about trees and spending money. IT'S SEPTEMBER!!! SEPTEMBER!!!" My 8 year old is threatening to disown me- but one of the store workers did say she thought it was gross, too.
ReplyDeleteMichaels once informed me they set up for Christmas so early because "Crafting takes time" and that when they set up for one winter holiday "they set up for all of them". They didn't seem to enjoy me asking where the Diwali and Eid supplies were....
BTW I just noticed your subject tabs under your header (I hope they haven't been there all along...) and want to say it makes it so much quicker and easier to grab your printables :-)
ReplyDeleteI did notice the change in the header right away at least.
Um...Around here, they DO put up the Valentine's Day merchandise in December. And the Christmas decor is just starting to appear now. I'm not surprised they started putting out the Chanukah items. They don't really look at any calendar except their sales calendars, where everything happens at least two months earlier. Maybe they're in a time warp. :o)
ReplyDeletePeace and Laughter!
Jugglingpaynes - I'm surprised that the xmas stuff is already coming out... used to be they'd give Halloween a fair shake and start the xmas stuff on November 1.
ReplyDeleteSigh... so not your rant, Jennifer, but it reminds me of how annoying it is to go shopping for clothes to wear now and only finding stuff for the next season.
I volunteer at a (Christian-based) thrift store. We have had Halloween stuff out for most of this month (not to mention free pumpkin pie for Canadian Thanksgiving), and they are already putting out tables of Christmas things. I guess even thrift stores have to follow the trends.
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