ROANOKE, Va. – Are you a fan of seeing holiday decor out early? Do you love to get ahead of the holiday and splurge? Tell us in the comments above!
From back-to-school to Halloween - that was a quick turnaround!
It’s a trend known as ‘holiday creep,’ and the early arrival of holiday goodies in your fave store isn’t very unusual at all.
“It’s a little weird, definitely, because school starts for me in two days so we haven’t really gotten set up there yet. So it’s a little weird but I do love the fall,” Keegan Clark, a local college student said.
“Holiday creep” is really because of retail competition, Jadrian Wooten, a Virginia Tech professor of economics, explains.
“If one company is capturing early purchasers the other companies don’t want to be left behind, so they put their stuff out early as well. And that’s not a big deal one year but the next year comes back around and those companies and executives are looking at it going well my competitor put it out a week earlier. I can do it a little bit faster, Wooten said.
But bringing in the decor so early might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
“It’s probably annoying, you are gonna turn off some customers. There are some people when they hear Mariah Carey and November 1st that’s enough it doesn’t cost them to shop more. It might make them avoid your business,” Wooten said.
But when it comes to Halloween, Wooten said it’s the ultimate spending combination.
“The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans spend around $10 billion on Halloween. It comes in just ahead of Fourth of July, Super Bowl, and St. Patrick’s Day. People love to dress up, throw parties, and decorate their homes. Spending is practically built into this tradition and retailers are happy to offer shoppers everything from costumes and decorations to spooky-themed snacks. If retailers can have the holiday last for weeks, it gives businesses more time in those profits,” Wooten said.