Hard to believe, but the holiday season has begun.
Of course we have yet to have Halloween and Thanksgiving, but as usual the Christmas season is here and in full swing. I have seen trees at Costco (plastic ones), decorations in Macy's, and about 500 different gift cards for sale. From restaurants to sporting goods stores to itunes to practically any retailer who has something to sell. I read yesterday that retailers such as Macy's, Target, and others are counting on gift cards to help them out of what could be a disastrous holiday season.
Gift cards are a fairly new phenomena. Once thought of as the gift that you gave when you had no time or interest in spending time searching for that perfect gift---it's now the gift of choice by many teenagers, Moms and business associates. (The thought...let me buy something I really want because I have no idea what I really want.)
So why do retailers love cards? Because until they are used they have the money, and believe it or not many of the cards never make it back into the store and are never used! In other words, pure profit except for the cost of making a plastic card.
I assume because of this change in shopping habits Santa can spend more time away from the Elves and the North Pole. If you only have to make plastic cards, and they are not always used, no clothes, no toys, no wrapped gifts need to be placed in the sled for the long journey. (I wonder what the unemployment rate is up north?)
The photo above was taken in Colorado; it was obvious this gentleman knew he resembled Santa Claus and was more than pleased with the amount of attention he received. I guess it's possible he is the real deal---certainly his beard was real!
One thing I didn't see was whether he was using any gift cards while he was in town. It would not surprise me since he is now printing them---think of the benefits?
Thanks for stopping by.
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