Christmas in August! Really????

[Brissles]

I tend to steer clear of the Christmassy shows, and advice on stocking up on all the food for visitors, friends, family etc etc. I live on my own with no children, and having had brilliant Christmases in the past, my loved ones have now all passed, so for me Christmas will never be the same again. Yes, I do get invited elsewhere, BUT for me its "looking in" on other peoples Christmas, not mine, and so I prefer to be on my own with my dog. Families are now spread so far and wide that more and more older people will be spending Christmas on their own, and maybe Q should bear this in mind when giving out their marketing spiel.

 

[Moth]

Just as an aside, Gill Gauntlet seems to look different, has she had a nose job? Just curious.

 

[whitesnake]

Just as an aside, Gill Gauntlet seems to look different, has she had a nose job? Just curious.

I did think that earlier but thought it was because she had tried (not very successfully) to curl or put waves in her hair. I will have a close look when she is next on.

 

[China Girl]

I always avoid these Qvc Christmas events when it is still Summer. It drives me mad to see Christmas dragged forward like this. I was shopping in town yesterday, and there is no sign of it just yet, though that won't last long I know.

 

[Anna]

Hate going in the shops from September onwards - hearing Christmas music and seeing Christmas gifts. Hate it. I would much prefer it to have been kept special. It just starts far too early.

 

[Brissles]

There is no meaning for 'special' anymore. A few shops now open on Christmas Day (to accommodate other religions), most shops open on Boxing Day, and recently there has been talk of longer opening hours on Sunday.

Not so long ago QVC closed down from lunchtime on Christmas Eve for about 48 hours or longer, but now they stay open for business for much longer over the festive period.

On the Continent they are much less 'profit' minded and more shops than not are closed all day Sunday.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Christmas is far too important to the retailers for it to be restricted to just December, unfortunately. For one thing, if we all started shopping in December they couldn't cope - they wouldn't have the stocks to meet demand; for another - it would be too risky from a financial point of view.

Christmas and just after Christmas is the highest risk period for most retailers going bust. Just as the summer period is the highest risk period for holiday companies going bust. Reason? Cashflow, more often than not.


All that said, I really would prefer not to be tortured by Christmas pop songs (ancient and more modern) winsome children's choirs singing carols, or sepulchral adult choirs doing the same until November at the very earliest.

I don't want to see tinsel, "gift ideas" and idealised family-style Christmases, when that's so far from the truth for the majority of people.

It would be great if people could just get on with planning and budgeting for their own Christmases at their own pace and in their own style without an incessant chorus of panic-inducing advertising or tv promotions ramping up from August onwards.

 

[historymystery]

brissles, your post absolutely sums up really important points and shows the other side of the coin from the one shopping telly promotes. It's not all about Q's stereotypical idea of what our Christmasses are going to be like. I personally find this quite annoying, that they automatically assume everyone welcomes or wants a lot of people descending on them, or will themselves be going out to spend time with a lot of other people. They promote a sort of Charles Dickens idea of Christmas, as though this is the "norm" for everyone, and although this makes a good story in a book, we are all different and, for various reasons, it may not be what we want or can have. Your point about families being so scattered is so true - this is the case with lots of my own family, and because most of our family don't like travelling at Christmas (neither do Other Half and I), Christmas is low-key for us and we tend to use spring, summer and autumn for get-togethers. These selly telly presenters witterings always make me think of that comment the comic Dave Allen used to say at the end of his shows - "May your God go with you" - the emphasis being on the word "your".

I tend to steer clear of the Christmassy shows, and advice on stocking up on all the food for visitors, friends, family etc etc. I live on my own with no children, and having had brilliant Christmases in the past, my loved ones have now all passed, so for me Christmas will never be the same again. Yes, I do get invited elsewhere, BUT for me its "looking in" on other peoples Christmas, not mine, and so I prefer to be on my own with my dog. Families are now spread so far and wide that more and more older people will be spending Christmas on their own, and maybe Q should bear this in mind when giving out their marketing spiel.

 

[Silver Fox]

I suppose this is no different to me having my flight / hotel booked to get out on 11/12! that is my Christmas celebrating the holiday but not spending on people/ time with those who do not really care about me.

 

[lynnonthelake]

I suppose this is no different to me having my flight / hotel booked to get out on 11/12! that is my Christmas celebrating the holiday but not spending on people/ time with those who do not really care about me.

Yes I look forward to escaping also.

 

[Brissles]

I did think that earlier but thought it was because she had tried (not very successfully) to curl or put waves in her hair. I will have a close look when she is next on.

WHAT does she look like ??? I always admired her glossy and well cut bob, it always looked so healthy. Just seen her now, with straggly unkempt rats tails. What or who is she trying to look like ? perhaps she got caught in a downpour and had to go straight on air ! NO Gill it doesn't suit you.

 

[Kathy]

Just as an aside, Gill Gauntlet seems to look different, has she had a nose job? Just curious.

Whatever look she was going for... it didn't work, imo she looks rather like a gypsy in sing song mode...

 

[Bid Up Side Down]

I tend to steer clear of the Christmassy shows, and advice on stocking up on all the food for visitors, friends, family etc etc. I live on my own with no children, and having had brilliant Christmases in the past, my loved ones have now all passed, so for me Christmas will never be the same again. Yes, I do get invited elsewhere, BUT for me its "looking in" on other peoples Christmas, not mine, and so I prefer to be on my own with my dog. Families are now spread so far and wide that more and more older people will be spending Christmas on their own, and maybe Q should bear this in mind when giving out their marketing spiel.

This Post. Q Read and learn.

 

[Ellaaa]

I tend to steer clear of the Christmassy shows, and advice on stocking up on all the food for visitors, friends, family etc etc. I live on my own with no children, and having had brilliant Christmases in the past, my loved ones have now all passed, so for me Christmas will never be the same again. Yes, I do get invited elsewhere, BUT for me its "looking in" on other peoples Christmas, not mine, and so I prefer to be on my own with my dog. Families are now spread so far and wide that more and more older people will be spending Christmas on their own, and maybe Q should bear this in mind when giving out their marketing spiel.

Yes, the marketing of Christmas by retailers to the perfect family that doesn't exist is so tiresome.

 

[candycane]

If anyone wants excellent bags to put gifts in, wait for the Lindy Bowman items if they have him back. Not just a lovely man but top quality products as well.

As for this big "lovely family huggy huggy Christmas", QVC need to remember that lots of folk don't have families (yes, lots do as well) and it can be quite mood lowering if you think that everyone on the planet except you is having a lovely traditional big family time with lots of visitors and gift giving etc etc. Neither my OH nor I have children and our families live hundreds of miles away. It is normally just us and I realise that we are the lucky ones that have each other. I have been on my own for many Christmasses before and although that was fine for me, maybe it's not for others. I do think that if Q want to reach out to all people they need to be sensitive to those that are alone at Christmas and maybe the TV is all the company they have.

CC

 

[boffy]

retailers dont really care about the reality of people alone. more focused on the material apsect of christmas which is to spend spend spend

 

[Muttley]

Personally, I absolutely adore Christmas, but I cannot stand it when shops or shopping channels promote stuff this early. If Selfridges have a Christmas Department I can avoid it. They say that holidaymakers want to buy stuff when they are here. That doesn't bother me because I can avoid that department. But I looked in a Birthdays card shop last week and saw Christmas cards, that is ridiculous. And they were right at the front of the shop on a big display. They simply don't understand how off-putting it is for customers and I can't believe that they sell any stuff at this time of the year, maybe I am wrong.

 

[candycane]

You are so right Boffy. We don't spend much now on Christmas as there's no need. Nephews and nieces get gifts we can afford and we just spend a little money on going out for a meal and having a little tipple in for later. I don't believe in getting into debt for Christmas as time together is more precious than costly gifts that quite often don't even mean anything and even more often end up in the charity shop.

CC

 

[Vienna]

I`ve had every type of Christmas under the Sun, from large family gatherings when I was a child, just me and hubby on our first Christmas as newly weds, our first family Christmas with our own first baby, other Christmases with our ever growing brood as more babies arrived, a miserable Christmas just after my Mother`s death one November, one in coronary care when my first hubby had a heart attack on Christmas Eve, another Christmas when he found out he had terminal cancer, the first Christmas after he died 6 months later and several Christmases after that I chose to work the festive period because it didn`t feel all that festive to me and not one of them looked like the Christmases they try to portray on QVC.
It`s like watching one of those supposed feel good American Christmas films where it always snows, the trees are always fabulously dressed and people are milling around wishing each other Happy Holidays. Yeh right !

 

[candycane]

Aww Vienna, a little hug to you. I do know what you mean.

CC