It's begining to look at lot like....Christmas?

If any of you have been out in the stores recently you might have noticed that some retailers are already getting their Christmas stuff out. I can't believe it. What's next? The big holiday sales will be the day after Labor Day? Or better yet, why not start the season after July 4th? The Wharton School of Business has actually given this phenomenon a name. The call it "Christmas Creep". Fitting for Halloween I suppose.

I don't really do a whole lot of shopping unless you count Home Depot, where I went almost every morning this summer. I just noticed this holiday thing last week when I went to the dollar store at the mall. I was looking for a funky hat to wear at the Avon walk. No hat found there but luckily my cousin came through with the psychedelic Dr. Seuss hat. However, there where some funny things I noticed about the dollar store.

• Did you ever notice they have shopping carts? Not normal sized ones. They have these half size carts, but even they are too big to actually fit down the isles. Ever try to pass someone in a dollar store when they're using one of those carts? It's very tricky. And who actually uses a cart at a dollar store anyway? I guess the same people who complain that Wal-mart is too expensive.
• Have you ever seen something at a dollar store that you just bought the week before for 3 times the price you paid somewhere else? Yeah, I haven't either, but sometimes when I see an extension cord for sale for $1 I wonder....did I buy that same extension cord earlier this year for $3?
• Where do they get all that stuff that they can sell for a dollar? I bet there's a secret store in Hong Kong. It's probably called the 15 Cents Store and you have to own a dollar store in order to have a membership.
• And what about other countries? In Japan do they have the "Yen General"? Or the "Ruble Rummage Store"? The "Pound Store" sounds kind of neat. Or maybe the "Everything for a Lira" outlet.

So I ended up getting a package of dice and a deck of cards. Neither one of which I intended to get when I went in the store. Maybe I'll just give them away for Christmas.