At least we haven’t started Christmas yet!
I was about to say something derogatory about the US for even suggesting we should stop looking down on Americans but that is just too embarrassing.
Over 4 months until Christmas, jeez. I could understand maybe a few Xmas items on sale, but a Father Christmas? In August?
Humbug.
Woo hoo! We win!
Well, for now anyway. I’m sure we’ll soon find an American retailer who does something even more embarrasing.
Wooooo! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! 
If you read the article down to the end you will see that the reason they are opening so early is so that foreign tourists want to buy the Christmas items. I imagine this would include a large proportion of Americans who always put Harrods on their “to visit” list
I haven’t checked yet but I think that it is a good bet that our version QVC (which is American owned) are already selling Christmas goodies on their shopping channel.
Fuggin’ Phoney Pharaoh!
You can put the stuff on a shelf but you don’t need Father Christmas in a red and white stripped bathing suit and a live donkey.
Did you read the part about the reindeer Barbie?
I don’t really see what’s so funny about it. I’ve seen a half-dozen year-round Christmas stores in the US and Canada.
I have also seen one in Amsterdam and the Swarovski Crystal shop in Austria.
Oh there are lots of year round Christmas stores. But the idea of Father Christmas in a swimsuit with a donkey in Harrods, which I think is supposed to a classy joint, is kind of amusing in a slow news day sort of way.
The store might be classy but the owner (who Rod Hill calls the Phoney Pharaoh) is certainly not. I am just waiting for the true story of this man to emerge sometime in the future. You will probably find that Robert Maxwell palls in comparison to him.
Rayne Man, Private Eye often has quite fragrant details of the old reprobate. Quite fond of giving the young female staff a helping hand, I understand…
Grauniad article on the fugger:
Exactly what my reaction was. I believe there is a town in northern Georgia that specializes in Christmas shops. There is a huge store in Fredricksburg, TX that sells Christmas items year round and just for kicks google Christmas items.
For the past few years, the local Walmart here in Las Vegas has set up its Christmas trees, and some decorations on or about August 30th. By mid-October, the best ornaments and decorations are sold out.
So yeah, Harrod’s got us beat, by about 2 weeks.
A few months ago a Seattle radio station played nothing but Christmas for 24 hours.
Make that Christmas music.
Can I mock the Southerners instead? Crazy Londoners. This would never happen in Yorkshire! 
At first I thought the OP was being fooled by the fact that they are filming a Christmas special for the TV show Doctor Who and that is big news in the UK.
Now that I see this has nothing to do with Doctor Who; that’s really sad.
Ah, that’s the kind of rationalization that makes me proud to be a member of the SDMB.
Oh, and if you want, you may continue to look down on me. I mean, what’re friends for?
Just last week I heard on the local news (Memphis) that one of the chain craft stores had already set up their Christmas stuff. A spokesperson for the store said they had to start displaying stuff whenever it was received from the parent company.
I visited the Santa Claus House in North Pole Alaska in February (10 months before Christmas). A co-traveler also insisted we visit the North Pole Wendy’s, which someone somewhere had declared to be “the world’s best Wendy’s”. It was just another Wendy’s, but with a bunch of Christmas decorations.