Pumpkins gone, shopping begins

It's that time of year -- ghosts and goblins, witches and weirdness, frost on the pumpkin. So, have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

Gaye Tyler has. She was hurrying to meet her kids one day last week, a plastic sack of goodies from KB Toys dangling from her fist.

"To avoid the crowds," Tyler said, explaining her early start on the shopping season. "And you can buy it now without it being picked over."

She's not alone. Nationally, 43 percent of consumers say they'll start their holiday shopping before Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation. That's up from 39 percent two years ago.

"Consumers know that it's much easier to pay for holiday gifts over three months than three weeks," federation spokeswoman Ellen Tolley said. "So many of them are budgeting for the holiday season and shopping early."

Retailers have responded by stocking their shelves earlier and putting Christmas displays in place as close to Halloween as they can without offending too many traditionalists.

"I can't get into the (holiday shopping) mood until this Halloween stuff's gone," said shopper Lauri Sachs, pausing in front of brightly lit Christmas decorations shining above a display of black cats and cackling witches in a Louisville, Ky., Target store.

Target shopper Marilyn Milliner-Kearney usually waits until November to do her holiday gift buying, but she expects to be done well before Thanksgiving.

"My aunt comes in and we do it all in about three days," she said. "We go home and wrap it all up, then she goes home to Grayson County and we're set for Christmas."

Louisville's Jefferson Mall is getting a head start on the season this year, staging the annual Santa parade on Nov. 6, the day the mall starts its extended holiday hours.

"It is as early (a parade) as any I know of," said Jack Ragan, longtime member of the Okolona Business and Professional Association, the parade's co-sponsor.

The National Retail Federation is projecting a 4.5 percent increase in sales over last year, down a little from the growth in 2003. Analysts think high gasoline and heating costs will temper shopper enthusiasm.

A good chunk of that spending will come from the well-to-do, according to a recent report from the International Council of Shopping Centers. Dividend income was up nearly 9 percent in the first half of the year, the report said, and that suggests "continued strength through the holiday season in luxury market demand, which is driven by the upper-middle to high-end household income consumer."

Perhaps with that in mind, the Neiman Marcus catalog tops off its luxury gift list this year with a $1.45 million his-and-her bowling center, a $3 million lifetime air pass and a $10 million zeppelin.

Closer to earth, "color's really hot this year," said Heather Hoffman, marketing manager at Green Tree Mall in Clarksville, Ind. "Fashion handbags of any color are in."

There hasn't been much buzz about must-have gifts, though. Bratz dolls are still outselling Barbie, and a DVD version of Trivial Pursuit is doing well with adults.

"There's no gotta-have toy right now," Hoffman said. "That might change by the holiday."

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