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Santa Claus arrived at the Staten Island Mall days ago to begin offering season's greetings.
(Advance photo: Bill Lyons)
With shoppers hungering for holiday bargains, Thanksgiving has turned into Thanks-getting. Lots of top-name stores didn't wait for today, Black Friday, to unveil big seasonal discounts.
Even before opening for customers on Thanksgiving, some retailers had for days been posting the kind of reduced prices they used to debut on Black Friday, the traditional date to hold door-busting sales and cash in on year-end business.
The early holiday frenzy seems to have become inevitable.
Keep in mind, however, that it's up to you to do as much or as little as you choose.
Only a bit more than one shopper in four was expected to hit the stores today, based on a survey from Bankrate.com.
Since the day after Halloween – or even before, in some cases - stores with early Christmas displays have been playing carols. To the sounds, of course, of bells or beeps on cash registers.
There's no better indication of this season's trend than the fact that the Staten Island Mall, with over 200 retailers, decided to open its doors for customers on Thanksgiving at 6 p.m.
This may seem regrettable to old-fashioned Staten Islanders.
Yet it's no surprise.
Beyond the Mall, several big-box stores – including Kohl's, Target, Best Buy, Toys 'R' Us, etc. – scheduled openings after dark on Thanksgiving. Kmart, planned to be open from 6 a.m. on Turkey Day until midnight on Black Friday.
The Mall welcomed the season earlier this month with a parade led by the arrival of Santa Claus and the unveiling of a 70-foot Christmas tree outside the main entrance.
There are holiday decorations in place in the Mall's center court. On the upper level of center court are a menorah and a Nativity scene. Santa is listening to kids outside JCPenney.
Thanksgiving, the most traditional American holiday, seems on the verge of being gobbled up by 21st century commercialism.
The original feast by the Pilgrims and Indians was held in 1621, which was 155 years before Independence Day in 1776.
But even amid the modern hoopla, most families could still find time to enjoy Thanksgiving the old-fashioned way.
The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce is urging people to focus tomorrow on "Small Business Saturday, an emerging tradition that provides local holiday discounts.
It's a way to share the joys (and riches) of the season with merchants close to home. These shopkeepers are set to offer their own low prices and thanks.