To all retailers in New Jersey who are now thinking about Christmas displays

Summer in New Jersey is all about fun in the sun. No one is thinking about Christmas this early in the year. Well, maybe except for Christmas in July.

But once we get through July, that should be it. No more Santa Claus, no more Christmas trees, and certainly no more huge Christmas decorations in the stores. In fact, those shouldn't appear until just before Thanksgiving.

In other words, where all the holiday spirit goes. There's nothing wrong with thinking about gifts for friends and family early on. In fact, it's probably a good idea to start thinking about it in advance.

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And as for Christmas displays in stores, summer is not the time for them. Still, we're pretty sure we'll see them there soon, along with the Christmas sales.

Holidays are rushed

It's really a trend among retailers to speed up the seasons. For example, the back-to-school announcement aired in early July. And by August, we can expect all the Halloween stores to be open again.

So if both are rushed, why not celebrate Christmas earlier? It's almost a game to see how far they can push back the start of the holiday before the public objects.

This happened once before to a certain major retailer. They decided to spend the entire holiday season around Labor Day. But what happened? Customers fought back, as they should.

The beginning of September is far too early for that. The summer season doesn't end until later in the month anyway, so why rush?

What consumers want

In early 2024, a study was conducted to find out when consumers think about Christmas shopping. Part of it looked at when shoppers think about the holidays.

To be clear, this study is not about the huge holiday displays in retail stores. But it is a good indicator of when retailers should start putting up those holiday displays.

Yes, the second half of the year goes by quickly. After September, there are only three full months left until the new year.

The results

According to the study published by CSA, “consumers do not shop early unless they are enticed to do so.” However, around 44% said they plan to start shopping in October or earlier.

41% plan to do their shopping in November, 33% say the same in December. Of course, planning and doing are two completely different things.

However, this does show that October is a key month for retailers to start displaying their Christmas and holiday merchandise, perhaps even a week or two earlier, as shoppers will begin to associate these particular locations with holiday deals.

Wait your turn

As a former retail manager, I can tell you that skipping seasons is not wise, and that means Halloween is still the center of attention in October and should stay that way.

Now, that doesn't mean that Christmas and holiday decorations shouldn't be brought out. It just means that they shouldn't take center stage until after Halloween.

Once we get to November, the holiday spirit is absolutely fine. But it definitely shouldn't be the focus on Labor Day weekend. Most shoppers will be content to see these displays and decorations somewhere in the store by October.

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The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Sunday morning host and content writer Mike Brant. All opinions expressed are his own.