Why stores are ditching the traditional retail calendar

NEW YORK (AP) — After sipping pumpkin spice lattes in August and hanging Halloween decorations in late September, Samantha Kowalczyk is already looking forward to drinking eggnog-flavored coffee and decorating her Wilmington, Delaware, home with cinnamon and sugar cookie-scented candles and other fillings with holiday flavors.

The 30-year-old believes that seasonal flavors and scents should be available all year round. And 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 donut maker Krispy Kreme, are releasing their festive collections weeks before the holiday begins on November 1st out shopping season.

Inflation-weary shoppers might wait until the first cold snap to buy a sweater or gloves, but when it comes to looking for deals tied to events like the start of a new school year or limited-time seasonal promotions, it's a whole lot Number of consumers the case I think it's never too early.

“I want the season earlier and the things that come with it earlier,” said Kowalczyk. “I want to enjoy it as long as possible… If I enjoy it, why should I have to wait?”

Clothing, grocery and home goods stores, all too happy to push the season earlier to entice shoppers to shop longer, are disrupting the traditional retail calendar in the process. And this year — with Thanksgiving falling on Nov. 28 and five fewer days before Christmas compared to last year — the pressure to get shoppers to buy is even greater, analysts say.

Bath and Body Works loyalty program members were able to purchase a preview collection of candles in “Winter Candy Apple” and “Bright Christmas Morning” scents starting September 24th. For everyone else it was available from September 30th. Last year, customers participating in the rewards program only got access to these products on October 3rd, and the holiday items didn't hit stores until October 9th.

Whole Foods released fall products such as Pumpkin Spice Pancake and Waffle Mix, Apple-Pear-Ginger Italian Lemonade and Pumpkin Spice Ground Coffee during the first two weeks of September; A year ago it was the last two weeks of the month. Starbucks introduced its fall menu August 22nd including a dairy-free cream chai with ice-cold apple crisp – two days earlier than last year.

Krispy Kreme's Halloween-themed donuts used to be offered a few days before the event, but now they're available all month long. The same goes for holidays like St. Patrick's Day — Krispy Kreme now offers holiday-themed candy the week before the holiday instead of just that day, according to Dave Skena, Krispy Kreme's global chief brand officer.

Walmart, the country's largest retailer, plans to offer discounts on Thanksgiving meals starting Oct. 14, about two weeks earlier than last year. Stew Leonard's, a grocery chain that operates stores in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, expects to stock chocolate turkeys throughout November, not just during Thanksgiving week. It also plans to begin promoting eggnog in early November, which the company previously offered in December.

“I think people are itching to see the next one,” says Jake Tavello, vice president of the supermarket company and grandson of the chain's late founder, Stew Leonard Sr. “They're excited even before the weather breaks.”

Retailers are also extending seasonal flavors and scents to other areas of the store, particularly the now-ubiquitous pumpkin spice. Trash bag brand Hefty, owned by Reynolds Consumer Products, launched cinnamon pumpkin spice scented bags online as a marketing stunt on September 27, 2022, but they sold out in seconds and were offered earlier each year to keep up with consumer demand . said Brian Lutz, marketing director for Hefty Waste. This year, the scented sachets were advertised to consumers in mid-August.

For the first time this year, Balsam Hill transformed its traditional fall catalog, mailed in September, into a Christmas book. According to CEO Mac Harman, sales of holiday decorations spiked in mid-September, a month earlier than a year ago. He also noted that Halloween decorations sold briskly in September, a month earlier than a year ago.

Traditionally, Christmas items begin appearing in stores in mid-October, and holiday sales increase from mid-November. But the big push this year is expected to come in early November, according to Stephen Yalof, president and CEO of Tanger, a leading operator of upscale outdoor shopping centers in 20 U.S. states and Canada.

Retailers said shoppers' interest in starting the season was already piqued before the coronavirus pandemic. However, the health crisis accelerated this trend as disrupted supply chains led to smaller inventories and encouraged shoppers to stock up on seasonal items while they could. But some retail executives said they realize the change this time is being driven by shoppers looking to find joy in an uncertain time.

“Decorating is fun and reduces stress. “They’re just decorating earlier because it’s incredibly stressful at the moment,” says Harman, citing, among other things, the war in the Middle East, hurricanes and political divisions. “There’s just so much going on.”

For retailers, the postponement to the next holiday while overlapping with other holidays is an opportunity to generate additional sales, said Marschall Cohen, chief industry consultant at market research company Circana.

But there are many shoppers like Jamie Bercaw, 33, of Owega, New York, who prefer to buy seasonal items in a timely manner.

“I feel like there’s a time and season for everything,” she said. “If we buy these things too early, they stop being so special.”