TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
Alpha8472
Posts: 4397
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 108 times
Status: Offline

TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by Alpha8472 »

There is a huge selection of Halloween items for sale in July at these stores. There are Halloween decor items and toy-like items.

Isn't it a little early? Doesn't this just take up space that could be used for something else?
Romr123
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 791
Joined: February 1st, 2021, 4:26 pm
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by Romr123 »

likely it's all last year's stuff stuck in ports, which TJX bought at 95% off.
Bagels
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 860
Joined: August 20th, 2018, 11:54 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 46 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by Bagels »

Kohls also had a fairly large selection. Not unusual, either. Since the Great Recession, Kohls begins to stock Christmas stuff in mid-August,
storewanderer
Posts: 16545
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 466 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by storewanderer »

As back to school and summer starts to sell down we will see Halloween come out at various retailers over the next six weeks.

It is a race to sell this crap. First one who gets it out has the best shot at selling it. Even selling a few pieces of it now will mean a few fewer pieces left after Halloween.

Also Spirit will open soon.
Alpha8472
Posts: 4397
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 108 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by Alpha8472 »

I often wonder why Spirit opens up so early. Do they make any money opening so early? They just pay employees to stand around.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 4509
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 485 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by ClownLoach »

Think about this: by August 1st the stores have only about 90 days to sell the Halloween product.

That is not a large window statistically. The typical selling window for seasonal items is about 60 days before the Holiday.

When you factor in the required "establishment of regular price" period which typically is 30 days before they can legally discount it and call it a sale - every last item that they're going to sell for Halloween needs to be in store on the shelf by August 1st.

For Christmas - this means it all really needs to be on the shelf by the last week of September for the same reason.

And no, I am not aware of any seasonal retailer that 'packs away' last years items and keeps them again. These are not durable goods and they get shelf worn. The only items that typically get kept for next year are artificial Christmas trees and Christmas lights because of the durability of the items (mostly metal). The rest get marked down until nobody wants them then they go in the dumpster.
storewanderer
Posts: 16545
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 466 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: July 23rd, 2022, 2:55 pm
And no, I am not aware of any seasonal retailer that 'packs away' last years items and keeps them again. These are not durable goods and they get shelf worn. The only items that typically get kept for next year are artificial Christmas trees and Christmas lights because of the durability of the items (mostly metal). The rest get marked down until nobody wants them then they go in the dumpster.
Spirit packs the goods away.

Longs used to pack up all seasonal and Walgreens also used to pack up all non-food seasonal about 10-15 years ago then wisely stopped that practice. CVS was already on a 100% clearance it out program back when they bought Osco/Sav-On but seems to have started doing different things since they took Longs over, almost like it depends on the regional manager/district manager how the stores handle seasonal clearance. In Reno, the CVS are split into two districts and for a while a couple years ago depending which district the store was in dictated the seasonal clearance percentage in effect at a given time. The district that was sitting at 50% off and had a couple stores doing pack up, supposedly that district manager "was no longer with the company" a few months later. Not saying that was the issue, the stores looked like garbage too and have greatly improved. A couple of those stores with old Longs managers were just packing seasonal stuff away.

Wal Mart and Rite Aid absolutely clearance the trees down to 90% off as I have purchased in recent years at those prices. Kmart used to also eventually get to 90% off on trees, 20 years ago, the old Martha trees.
BillyGr
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1751
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 7:33 pm
Been thanked: 68 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by BillyGr »

ClownLoach wrote: July 23rd, 2022, 2:55 pm And no, I am not aware of any seasonal retailer that 'packs away' last years items and keeps them again. These are not durable goods and they get shelf worn. The only items that typically get kept for next year are artificial Christmas trees and Christmas lights because of the durability of the items (mostly metal). The rest get marked down until nobody wants them then they go in the dumpster.
Ocean State does that with Christmas stuff - packs away whatever doesn't sell at 50% off and brings it out the following year. They don't run much for other holidays, though.
They also do that to some degree with other seasonal items like summer stuff, winter stuff etc. as you will sometimes find the same item with two different price tags.

Dollar Tree has also done some pack away with holiday items, have seen them packing those after a few days of 50% off.
storewanderer
Posts: 16545
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 466 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote: July 24th, 2022, 2:00 pm

Ocean State does that with Christmas stuff - packs away whatever doesn't sell at 50% off and brings it out the following year. They don't run much for other holidays, though.
They also do that to some degree with other seasonal items like summer stuff, winter stuff etc. as you will sometimes find the same item with two different price tags.

Dollar Tree has also done some pack away with holiday items, have seen them packing those after a few days of 50% off.
Pack away is an absolute nightmare to deal with. Especially in a store with a small back room to begin with. The best comes when you have pack away from multiple years. You try to set your seasonal area to the current year's specs and packaging changes from year to year, even if the old junk still scans, your display looks like crap with multiple package designs for the same products, some that look very shopworn, etc.

Wal Mart will go all the way down to 90% off on seasonal (they are not supposed to do pack away anymore) but in some cases they will just clear the floor of stuff after 75% off and dispose of it or donate it. Target also will go all the way down to 90% off but often will just donate it or sell it to Goodwill to resell instead.

One thing that these companies could do to alleviate a lot of markdowns is just sell standard candy packages in larger supply in the seasonal sets. Is the seasonal package of a Hershey bar really necessary? I guess the egg shaped Reeses is okay for Easter and the heart shape for Halloween, etc., but for candies that are literally the standard candy in a special color wrapper for the holiday in question these companies should really stop that program, it would save a lot of markdowns and result in more sales at full price. For instance right now I am still working through various clearance candy from Valentine's and Easter, I have been working through it for months and probably won't buy any more candy until the Halloween clearance.
mbz321
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 832
Joined: March 11th, 2010, 7:52 pm
Has thanked: 168 times
Been thanked: 70 times
Status: Offline

Re: TJ Maxx & Homegoods Selling Halloween Items in July

Post by mbz321 »

Costco already has Halloween costumes and a few decorative things out, and I've seen some pics of stores with Chirstmas merchandise already!
Post Reply