NEW YORK — After sipping pumpkin spiced lattes in August and putting up Halloween decorations in late September, Samantha Kowalczyk already looks forward to drinking eggnog-flavored coffee and filling her Wilmington, Del., home with cinnamon and sugar cookie scented candles and other holiday aromas.
The 30-year-old thinks seasonal flavors and scents should be available year-round. Apparently, others feel the same way.
In response to growing customer demand, stores of all stripes — from Bath and Body Works and online holiday decor retailer Balsam Hill to Whole Foods Market and doughnut maker Krispy Kreme — are bringing out their festive collections weeks before the Nov. 1 start of the holiday shopping season.
Inflation-weary shoppers may wait until the first cold snap to buy a sweater or gloves, but when it comes to seeking out deals tied to events like the start of a new school year or limited-time seasonal promotions, a fair number of consumers are finding it’s never too soon.
“I want the season earlier and the things that go with the season earlier,” Kowalczyk said. “I want to enjoy it for as long as I can.”
Clothing, food and home goods stores, only too happy to push the season earlier to get shoppers to spend for a longer period of time, are scrambling the traditional retail calendar in the process. And this year — with Thanksgiving Day falling on Nov. 28 and leaving five fewer days before Christmas compared with last year — that pressure to get shoppers to buy is even more intense, analysts say.
Members of Bath and Body Works’ loyalty program could shop a holiday preview collection of candles in scents like winter candy apple and “Bright Christmas Morning” starting Sept. 24. For everyone else, it became available on Sept. 30. Last year, customers in the rewards program didn’t get access to those products until Oct. 3, and the holiday-themed merchandise didn’t launch in stores until Oct. 9.
Whole Foods brought out autumnal items like pumpkin spice pancake and waffle mix, apple pear ginger Italian soda and pumpkin spice ground coffee in the first two weeks of September; a year ago, it was the last two weeks of the month. Starbucks introduced its fall menu Aug. 22, including an iced apple crisp nondairy cream chai — two days earlier than last year.
Krispy Kreme used to offer Halloween-themed donuts a few days before the event, but now it offers them all month. Same goes for holidays like St. Patrick’s Day: Krispy Kreme now offers holiday-themed sweets the week before the holiday, instead of just on that day, according to Dave Skena, the company’s global chief brand officer.
Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, plans to advertise savings on Thanksgiving meal products starting today, about two weeks earlier than last year.
