What’s unfolding under those fluorescent lights is a referendum on whether meaning can survive marketing. When chains move from “holiday” to “Christmas,” they’re not just decorating; they’re declaring what story gets to sit at the center of the calendar. For many shoppers, that feels like a long-denied honesty, a relief from the beige politeness that turned December into a sales quarter with twinkle lights.
Yet every declaration has a shadow. The brighter the Christmas branding burns, the more some customers feel pushed toward the edges, reminded this month may never fully belong to them. Retailers are wagering that people would rather inhabit a sharper, more specific world than a perfectly inclusive blur. The receipts and surveys will come later. For now, every “Merry Christmas” over the loudspeaker is less a greeting than a quiet, nation‑wide test of what we truly want December to mean.
