Festive Friday: Halloween meets Christmas this weekend

By Flickr user Jo Naylor

If you thought it was safe to wait until next week to launch holiday consumerism coverage, think again.  It’s Rudolph meets the Great Pumpkin this weekend as Sears kicks off its “Black Friday” promos a month early, in a sign of how desperate retailers are to prop up sales this season after two dismal Christmases.

This LA Times blog piece explains that the department store chain is not only launching holiday discounts four weeks before Halloween, it intends to keep the Black Friday vibe going well into December with related discounts and sales.

It’s probably a smart strategy for the retailer otherwise mired in the no-man’s land between the low-price discounters and the more upscale merchants where even frugal shoppers will spend once a year; you can bet, however, that other chains will be close behind Sears.  So if you’re going to do any standing holiday business features, seasonal consumer blogs or other innovative ways of covering the holiday economy in your region, get going.

Here’s my kickoff blog post on the 2010 holiday season, and below are some other ideas to get you started; we’ll be back each “Festive Friday” for the next two months with ongoing advice and story tips.

While retailers overall say they expect gains this year, shoppers may not be willing to cooperate; I tuned in to a CBS radio report today with lots of soundbites from consumers who plan to keep a tight grip on the pursestrings.  Perhaps it’s time for an online poll or survey at your news organization’s website – and following up with respondents is a great way to find “real people” for future stories.

Electronics retailers may be ripe for a pre-holiday check-ups; reports suggest that the absence of any hot new gadget  (apparently the iPad is yesterday’s news) bodes a lump of coal for big-box centers, appliance stores and others.

Besides actual story ideas, the great minds among my Reynolds Center colleagues have highlighted some innovative ways you can structure your holiday coverage.

For starters, why not make a field trip with an actual retail expert, on Black Friday or sooner, and get his/her analysis of what prominent stores, malls, strip centers and other venues are doing right. You could live blog this, or do a photo gallery with long cutlines, or a video diary – the multimedia possibilities are inspiring and the foray through an expert’s eyes will train you on what to look for the rest of the season.

Consider brokerage analysts, retail consultants (divine their possible conflicts of interest up front), academic experts or even retired executives from the retail scene in your area.

Meanwhile, line up some merchants who are in make-it-or-break-it mode this year.

Perhaps that’ll be Main Street boutique operators, in one of those gifty-crafty neighborhoods that make some of our markets so attractive to shoppers and tourists.  Perhaps the tenants of a struggling strip mall, or a franchisee who’s staked it all on a retail or restaurant branch.

Enlist one or more, ask for candor about sales patterns and promo strategies, and work up an occasional series, blog, Q&A or other device to follow the fortunes of these businesses (and their workers) for the next 10 weeks.  (Talk with local commercial realtors and even bankers, if you have a confidential relationship, for tips on finding the strugglers.)

Come back to Festive Fridays each week here at my Reynolds Center blog – and please, let’s make this a dialogue.  Whether you cover transportation, tech, toys or tourism, the crucial fourth quarter is prime time on your beat.  Please feel free to use the comments area here on the blog site to share tips, questions and ideas with your fellow writers!