Christmas Opinion

Christmas opinions run the gamut. Everyone has an opinion on nearly everything associated with Christmas. We welcome the opinions of others on any Christmas topic.

, ,

Controversy Erupts Over Christmas Truce Ad

Most Americans tend to look at Christmas commercials with a wary eye and if there is any love to give for them it is through a nostalgic lens. But folks in the UK live a different kind of Christmas life. Christmas commercials there are an…

7 Steps to a More Meaningful Christmas

Christmas can be like a pressure cooker for some people. I used to be that way. I used to sweat the details to get it all done, rushing from place to place, worried whether or not I could see it all, taste it all and do it all in accomplishing…

I Take Offense at Your Offense

It is tough for me to get through this season of “Christmas creep”. No, not the fact that Christmas is so visible in the months before Thanksgiving. I’m sick of people complaining about it. In fact — I’m offended. What really set…
, , , ,

Realities of the New Black Friday

Christmas lands on December 25th. That is the constant -- the north star of retailing and the deadline on the mind of every Christmas shopper. In an age where confusion reigns of when to get the best deal and where to get it the simple…
,

Which Stores are Open and Which are Closed on Thanksgiving

You are soon to be hit with a terrible choice. Will you side with those retailers who open on Thanksgiving Day or those who refuse to? More than anything else it may be your politics that make the choice for you. Seriously. If you’re conservative,…

Protesting Thanksgiving

The battle lines are being drawn all around us. The rumblings of discontent and the cries of revolution are warming up. There is a storm coming. It is called Thanksgiving. It never used to be this way. Way back in the old days when I was a…
, ,

Christmas Debate: Real or Artificial?

By Jeff Westover (Author bias: We use an artificial tree in our home every holiday season but we do so under protest. If I could, I would use a real tree. But our choice of tree has nothing to do with environmental consciousness. The simple…

Christmas and Infectious Diseases

This week I attended the most bizarre pre-Christmas sales meeting of my 35+ year retail career. The hot topic? Christmas and Ebola. I kid you not. Tis the season, you see, for sales projections, big plans and visions of crowded aisles filled…

Secrets of Great Stocking Stuffers

As a man there isn’t much I can do right when it comes to Christmas. According to my wife I can’t cook. According to my daughters I can’t shop. And according to my wallet I’m Scrooge. While I have neighbors — all men, by the way —…

Cash: It’s What’s for Christmas

Target. Home Depot. Michaels. Neiman Marcus. What do these big store brands have in common? Credit card data security breaches, the most famous killing Target’s Christmas last year. For consumers it happens silently. They go shopping and…

Not All Christmas Trees are Made of Trees

Life in the desert or tropical climates can make a Christmas freak feel a little lonely. When you get that hankering for frosty air, roasting chestnuts and one-horse open sleighing it is hard to be merry when sand is your snow and the heat…

Stop Whining About Christmas

If there is a part of Christmas I cannot stand it is the complaints. It starts in September when people get on their soapbox about “Christmas creep” just because they see trees and lights for sale at Costco. It culminates in November when…

Five Reasons to go Christmas Shopping in September

For many people there is a real disconnect between the seasons and spending money. Many folks after all are just recovering from the double sting of back-to-school shopping and summer vacations. Spending money, especially with the holidays fast…

Top Five Things I Won’t Do This Christmas

With Labor Day weekend approaching it is inevitable that my heart turns to Christmas. I’m so done with summer. And Halloween does nothing for me. Zip. I love Thanksgiving but I consider it a part of Christmas. That’s just how I roll. So…

What If Kate Winslet Sang A Christmas Carol?

Kate Winslet, starlet of Titanic fame and other films, evidently has a little Christmas in her. You have to go back a ways — to 2001. She was the voice of Belle in a re-telling of A Christmas Carol with a bit of a twist. What if Scrooge…