Halloween Candy Already?

I snapped this shot at Shaw's in Wareham over the weekend. Call me crazy, but I feel like July (it was July 28 when this picture was taken) is just a LITTLE too early to put out the Halloween candy.

Local stores are wasting no time with switching their shelves to be fall-themed. For crying out loud, we've barely put away the red, white and blue from the Fourth of July, and Shaw's is already selling Halloween?

They are not alone. I saw the same thing in Stop and Shop yesterday.

What do these stores know that we don't? Why does it make sense to sell things that are out of season? Just because Shaw's sells Halloween candy in July doesn't mean it's the season of Halloween. Same goes for Christmas and every other holiday.

At some point in the last 25-30 years, we've found it necessary to extend seasons beyond any semblance of reason.

Honestly, it's the first day of August. It might be a week or two early for BACK TO SCHOOL--never mind Halloween! But I swear I saw some back to school-themed commercials on TV before Fall River Public Schools (namely Durfee) were dismissed for summer vacation.

Wouldn't you think that there'd be ONE retail store that would practice common sense?  One chain that would buck the trend, draw a line in the sand, and say, "No. Enough of the madness. We'll put out Halloween decorations on October 1st, Thanksgiving things in November, and start Christmas shopping sales after Thanksgiving?"

After all, isn't this when people normally do these things? It makes the stores seem out of touch with their shoppers, in my opinion.

Rant over.