Every year we hear the same refrain from shoppers everywhere: I can’t believe that Christmas stuff is already in stores! In the merchandising world, this phenomenon is known as “Christmas Creep.” Love it or hate it (we love it here at Christmas Every Minute), the trend is here to stay.
While the start of the traditional holiday season in America is usually the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the reality is that holiday items are now competing with Halloween decorations and costumes as early as September. I found Christmas items of all shapes and sizes in stores this year during the first week in September. When did this all begin and why?
The trend of introducing holiday items in stores earlier and earlier really began to take off in the 1980s. The most lucrative time of year for retailers is typically from mid-November all the way to Christmas Eve. But someone, somewhere, got the brilliant idea to extend the selling season for holiday merchandise in stores, which has become more and more ubiquitous each year. Adjusting the holiday selling season can actually be traced back to a promotion of an “early Christmas event” in 1893 by a retailer in Utah and again in 1939, 1940 and 1941 when FDR moved the celebration of Thanksgiving forward a week to help boost retail sales during WWII. Even Home Depot and Lowe’s have gotten in on the act by putting out Christmas decorations and trees by October 1. Interestingly, you can find a reference to Christmas Creep in the 1973 animated special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving when Sally bemoans the fact that when looking for a “turkey tree” for Thanksgiving, all she found were Christmas supplies.
From a retail perspective, Christmas Creep is a lucrative business. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), shoppers spent nearly $1,000 each on purchases for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas in 2023 alone. And according to an article from the BBC, holiday candy sales at Hershey, the largest chocolate manufacturer in the world, represent a quarter of its business for the entire year. That’s big money indeed.
For buyers, the extension of the holiday season allows them to spread out their spending from October to December. According to a survey by the NRF, 70% of shoppers are contemplating October sales to grab holiday presents and décor to help reduce the pressure on their holiday budgets.
Not to be outdone by retailers, radio stations have gotten into the Christmas Creep act by going to an all-holiday music format earlier and earlier each year. While originally something radio stations only did on December 24 or 25, today some stations are changing their formats to all holiday music as early as November 1, right after Halloween. iHeartMedia, which switches formats to all holiday music on 90+ of its stations, has chosen November 10 in the past as the day to flip the switch on their all-holiday format.
The main gripe against Christmas Creep appears to be those who think it distorts our perception of time. Is it going to push Halloween back to July? Will Thanksgiving in America become an afterthought? Clearly Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, was no fan. In a 1959 Peanuts strip, Charlie Brown laments the fact that he can’t find a Halloween mask in stores because they’ve already started putting out their Christmas decorations. Some folks also think it ramps up the need to get gifts earlier and earlier and brings an unwelcomed amount of pressure to what should be a season of joy.
For me, Christmas Creep is a joy to behold, but I say that as someone who created a website called Christmas Every Minute. I like to get my holiday shopping done early so that I can kick back and enjoy all the wonders the holiday season has to offer, away from the pressure of buying gifts. Regardless of how you deal with Christmas Creep, one thing’s for sure. The trend is here to stay.
And it could just be that one day you’ll be walking along your favorite seaside resort during the heart of the summer, when you’ll hear the melodious sounds of Christmas music wafting up and down the boardwalk. Hmmm. Perhaps that’s a holiday bridge too far, even for us at Christmas Every Minute.
