It seems that your experience shows that there still is holiday spirit and all is not gloom and doom. The early sales figures show that the battered consumer has saved money and is intent on having a good holiday season- in spite of the doomsday crowd. Nice piece.
If we make holiday shopping part of the season -- and lose the stress, the aggression and the attempt to turn the experience into a competitive sport -- I think we'll all be better off, both emotionally and economically.
Great article, @Joey, and terrific reporting! I doubt that you were creepy at all. If I had been there, I would have talked to you for sure...
I've never been to Bryant Park for the Christmas boutiques but your post made me want to hop on the train and visit. And when I do, I'll also make a detour to the shops at Grand Central and maybe even head south to Union Square where the moods are similarly festive.
November 26th, the Saturday after Black Friday was Small Business Saturday when we were encouraged to "shop small." I think it's a great idea and I suspect that the spirit of supporting these small booths and pop-ups of larger companies has a lot to do with fostering the holiday spirit we're all searching for this season.
It's good to see people still spending family time together this holiday season even though they may not be able to afford much. In comparison to the US, consumers in Asia seem to spend a lot this season. All the shops I visited so far in Singapore and Sri Lanka are full of shoppers. They are not window shopping either they are buying. And it's still the end of November.
@Street Smart - Thank you for the kind words! I highly reccomend a visit to Bryant Park while the pond is still up, it's a good time. The shops in Grand Central seemed like less of an event to me, and lacked a little bit of the Christmas feel, but they had some nice goods. I also went down to the Union Square area for some Christmas Falafel, but didn't hang around enough for any reports. Falafel was good, though.
@Big Jim - The park was incredibly laid back and very easy to get around. I don't know if you're located in or near New York City, but if you are a visit might help with your apparent Christmas spirit deficiency.
@Noreen, I LOVE the term Christmas spirit deficiency...a keeper for sure!
But let me tell you, there sure are folks out there who are NOT holiday spirit challenged. I was watching the Rockefeller Center tree lighting on the news last night and it was unbelievable. There were families there with toddlers and babies who said that they had been waiting for four hours or more for that instant when the tree burst into its lighted glory!
Were they cold? Tired? Bored? Frustrated? Nope! Happy as could be and basking in Christmas spirit! And they didn't all look like tourists either...
So, I think it's possible to be "on the spectrum" of holiday spirit, and I even think it's possible to be at different points on different days leading up to Christmas or Hanukkah. Sure, there will be the "long tail" diehards at either end, but most of us will have our share of wonderful, transcendent moments in between, whether in church, on a skating rink, looking at a store window or at a family dinner.
Let's just aim to move the needle toward the HIGHER end of the gauge!
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