More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
You may not be anywhere close to ready for the holidays — but retail chains certainly are.
Christmas trees are already on sales floors at Costco and Lowe's, Walmart's year-end holiday sales start October 1 and Target is offering its "earliest access ever" to holiday deals beginning October 6. Amazon is hosting a new "Prime Day" sales event on October 11 and 12.
Holiday creep is nothing new, as each year retailers start the Christmas season earlier and earlier. But has it gotten out of hand? Should consumers be flooded with holiday music, displays and advertisements in October — a month commonly associated with the World Series, apple picking and Halloween?
"It is inappropriate to the consumer to be pushing December holiday purchasing in September and October," said David Katz, the chief marketing officer at Randa Apparel & Accessories, which makes Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger and other brands.
Retailers have many reasons to jumpstart the holidays, their most important stretch of the year. Some stores make up to half of their yearly sales during the holiday period. A weak holiday season can prove ruinous.
Shoppers respond to emotional and behavioral cues from stores, and starting holiday themes early can tee consumers up to start buying gifts.
"Christmas music and aesthetics and scenery affects their purchase behavior. It might give consumers an opportunity to indulge a little bit more and spend," said Charles Lindsey, an associate professor of marketing at the University at Buffalo.
And this year, there are new incentives for holiday creep.
Higher prices are factoring into purchasing decisions this year, and these early promotional deals allow shoppers to stretch their budgets over a longer period of time, said Danielle Inman, a spokesperson for the National Retail Federation. Case in point: more than half of customers start researching and planning for holiday shopping in October, according to Walmart.
Last year, retailers encouraged customers to buy early to ensure they could get what they were looking for and avoid potential shipping delays. This year, retailers seriously misjudged what's in demand and are sitting on too much casual clothing, home goods and other non-essentials. They're offering discounts early in part to clear shelves and free up cash to bring in new goods for 2023.
But there are risks to dragging out holiday deals for too long. Stores use promotions to convince shoppers to buy right away or risk losing out. An October promotion loses its power if shoppers believe they can still find the same stuff on sale in December or January.
"If I'm going to have a four-month holiday season, I'm not as driven to buy now," Katz said. "You lose the sense of urgency and immediacy."
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”