Why Is it Christmas Already At Hobby Lobby?

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Summertime shopping in Oklahoma usually means backpacks and school supplies, but at some Oklahoma City stores, you could easily buy Christmas ornaments to go along with your three-ring binders.

At Hobby Lobby, Christmas supplies and decorations begin to go up at the beginning of summer.  But it's not really an economic issue according to Mike Bojarski.  Bojarski manages the Hobby Lobby store at Northwest Expressway and Rockwell Avenue and says the early displays are a necessity.

"If you're a crafter, you wanna get your projects done before the season even starts," he said.  "So we have to cater to their needs, which means we start bringing in our Christmas crafts in the month of May."

If you're bringing in Christmas crafts, you may as well bring it all in, like ornaments, ribbons, bows, lights and of course Christmas trees.  Bojarski claims to have already sold a few of those.

But a summertime Yule season gets mixed reviews from Hobby Lobby shoppers.

Ruby Hensley was surprised at the early displays, but curious nonetheless. 

"Yeah, definitely early, but I just can't resist coming to look," Hensley said.

It might take a little more convincing for Peri Ann Archer, though. 

"I do not like that," she laughed.  "It puts a lotta pressure on people to think 'Oh my gosh, Christmas is almost here.'" 

Bojarski hears it all, and he's used to it.

"It gets more reaction than anything else we do," he said.  "To them many times it feels like it's getting earlier and earlier, but for us it's the same time, and has been for 10 years."

And the "pressure" that Archer mentioned isn't necessarily a made-up thing.

"When I get ready to decorate, because I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving, it's all gone," she said.  "And I'm like 'Dang, I wish I'd have gotten it then!'"

Maybe she should start her Easter shopping already.