Depending on where in the country you live, school just got out for the summer, or is about to. Naturally, in the world of retail, this means that it’s time to put on some back-to-school sales. While a link to that special section on the JCPenney site made the rounds over the weekend, selling back-to-school stuff before school is even out is more popular than you might think.

JCP’s BTS display hit the business page of Fark this week, but planning a whole grade ahead is nothing new for Consumerist readers. It’s not just clothes: we spotted Staples trying to snag school supply business as early as June back in 2010.

The National Retail Federation confirmed last year that school supply sales have been moving up gradually in order to keep shippers coming back to the same store to pick up different loss leaders–and, retailers hope, everything else as well.

Of course, a Web page is one thing: actual store displays of apparel are a terrifying vision of the future, and unusual enough that we had to feature it when it happened last July at Sears.

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