HOULTON, Maine — Lisa Mitchell of Houlton said Nov. 21 that for the first time in almost a decade she is “refusing” to do any Christmas shopping until after Black Friday is over, even if it means passing up on a few good deals.
The reason, she said, is because online retailers such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com have been “practically forcing” the idea of Black Friday sales onto consumers as far back as late fall.
“It really takes the meaning of Christmas out of the season and makes it all about shopping,” said Mitchell, a mother of two. “I try to impress upon my children every year that Christmas is not about decorations and gifts and Thanksgiving is not about Black Friday sales the next day, it is about getting together with family and being grateful for what you have. But more and more, it seems that the reason for the holiday is being stripped away.”
Janice Nelson of Presque Isle agreed. She said she “hated” walking into some of the local retail stores in the area several months before Christmas only to see decorations, lights, wreaths and Christmas trees everywhere.
“It was barely past Halloween and they already had all of that stuff out and their stores advertising deals on lights and trees,” she said. “And at the same time, some were advertising 50 percent off the Halloween costumes that didn’t sell from this year.”
Nelson said that as a grandmother of five, she also impresses upon her grandchildren the true meaning of both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But she also has come to enjoy the savings that businesses offer on Black Friday.
“I usually can find gifts for a few of my grandchildren later in the day,” she said. “I am not one of these people that line up really early in the morning, because more often than not you can find those same deals on clothing items later in the day, which are the types of items my grandchildren want.”
Kerri Howe, another Presque Isle resident, said she also is sick of the “decorating and advertising that gets earlier and earlier every year.” She said before Thanksgiving that she did not plan to attend any Black Friday sales or order anything online during that day.
“I just plan to spend the whole holiday weekend with my family, which I think is the best thing to do,” she said.
