British retail's compulsion to start Christmas in September barely exists in America - because the cultural importance of Thanksgiving confines Christmas mania to a single month.
After a slow start, Christmas shopping has met "merchants' high expectations", reports the German Retail Association.In the longer run German growth prospects will depend more on politicians' progress with reforms than on the whims of consumers.
Charles Jeffrey's Maison Martin Margiela S/S 14 for my stocking would start Christmas day off brilliantly; to then find Unskilled Workers' She Smiles under my tree would make it a perfect Christmas.
The first time was in 2005 when I was asked to help promote a shopping exhibition by coming up with a formula that predicted the best day to start Christmas shopping.
Wal-Mart said it made the call after conducting a survey that showed consumers will start Christmas shopping earlier this year in order to stretch their holiday dollars.
What do I tell grandma when she asks what sizes the kids are wearing now so that she can start Christmas shopping?
Rather than break the news to my three young children that we would be heading back to the hospital for another battle, the only words I could form were, "Let's start Christmas right now".
Start Christmas shopping on Black Friday.
