Looking for Halloween Decorations? You Might be out of Luck ALREADY!

     Okay, folks, tell me that this is a local thing and that it is NOT happening in YOUR neck of the woods, please...please? Or IS it?

  In previous years, I'd always waited until the last week before Halloween to get those deep discounts and sales that appeared, as retailers scrambled to get the Halloween merchandise off the shelves and get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, I decided to stop by my local  crafts store to size up what I might want to get later - on sale.

To my surprise, most of the Halloween merchandise was already marked 50- to 75-percent off! This was a radical departure from last year. Not only that, but I had to scramble to find the few rows of Halloween merchandise still left in the store. Most of the store displays were already geared up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I asked a sales clerk if they'd be getting in any more Halloween items and she said "No". I bought some a fall bouquet set in an artificial pumpkin and some cute sculpture of a girl and a boy dressed in costumes - and was grateful to find that.

Now I was genuinely curious about the availabilty of seasonal products at other stores so I went over to Target to scope out what was there. To my amazement, there were tons of Christmas lights and Christmas cards already in the store. Happily, there were also a wealth of Halloween goodies but many were already being sold at deep discount. Again, a first, earlier than ever.

I can't ever recall our local Target having any Christmas items so soon, let alone so many strong discounts on Halloween products. When I got home, I went to Target's online site at http://www.target.com and did a keyword search, using the word Christmas and found 1,427 items on sale in Home Decor alone, already available. In contrast, many of the Halloween items were already sold out. A sales associate at Target noted that sales were unusually strong this year, just confirming what I was discovering firsthand.

Next stop, Walmart.. Again, same situation. So I found myself in the very unique position of getting all my Halloween decorations within the first week of October and actually regretted that I hadn't started in mid-September or perhaps late September! I was actually afraid to wait. Should I get candy? I wondered. If I hid it, would I ever find it again? But if I waited, maybe all the goodies would be gone. Yes, I was that spooked (forgive the pun).

I noticed that in the particular Walmart I searched, many of the popular costumes such as Tinkerbell, Cinderella and Ballerinas were already out of stock but "might" be back in stock before the holiday, according to a sales associate. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but notice Christmas items such as hanging tree ornaments, lights and even fake Christmas trees (not real ones yet, thank goodness,as that would truly be a bit odd) were starting to fill the empty spaces.. They were 6 foot green trees, proving that there may indeed be a "reason for the season" -yes,. even in October.

      Next stop, Walmart.. Again, same situation. So I found myself in the very unique position of getting all my Halloween decorations within the first week of October and actually regretted that I hadn't started in mid-September or perhaps late September! I was actually afraid to wait. Should I get candy? I wondered. If I hid it, would I ever find it again? But if I waited, maybe all the goodies would be gone. Yes, I was that spooked (forgive the pun).

I noticed that in the particular  Walmart I searched, many of the popular costumes such as Tinkerbell, Cinderella and Ballerinas were already out of stock but "might" be back in stock before the holiday, according to a sales associate. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but notice Christmas items such as hanging tree ornaments, lights and even fake Christmas trees (not real ones yet, thank goodness,as that would truly be a bit odd) were starting to fill the empty spaces.. They were 6 foot green trees, proving that there may indeed be a "reason for the season" -yes,. even in October.

Since I had to stop there to pick up some paint, I checked out our local Lowes and they had a plentiful supply of fake pine trees. I was told they were "behind" on getting the decorations on the trees but there was no shortage of artificial ones in all shapes, sizes and colors and decorations were stacked nearby but not yet on the trees. In contrast, they were a bit short on Halloween decorations. Still, there were far more than at my local crafts store, so that was a good sign. I felt a bit more hopeful.

Last stop, Steinmart. Only a week earlier, they'd had a plentiful supply of decorations, candy, even seasonal clothes for Halloween. This week, the clothing sizes were limited, the candy in short supply and the decorations moving quickly. I was amazed. in contrast, Christmas decor was everywhere, from artificial greenery to sculpted words such as Peace, Joy, Christmas, etc. There were also many stars and reindeer and Santa figurines. As I walked out into 70 degree weather, not a hint of Fall in the air, I felt an odd disconnect between the inside of that store, brimming with winter cheer, that contrasted so strongly with the warmth of the day.

Next year? I'm starting my Halloween shopping on November 1, the day after Halloween. Why wait?