Jill knew that her blog readers wouldn’t believe what she had seen, even if she presented them with a photo. At her local Walgreens store, there was a full display of Halloween treats, including candy corn and Snickers pumpkins. Halloween. On July 21. Please, retailers, we’re still uncomfortable at seeing Back-to-School displays in the big-box stores! Don’t do this to us!

“I asked my husband to grab a newspaper so I could photograph this, thinking no one would possibly believe these photos were taken today without date proof,” she wrote. Smart, since I almost didn’t believe it, and I’ve been writing about this stuff for six years now.

To a certain extent, this makes sense: not because people are stocking up on Halloween candy three months early, but because the sections that once held beach gear are now empty and need to be filled with some kind of seasonal merchandise. On the other hand, that’s why it’s harder to find a bathing suit in August or Christmas lights in December: seasonal merchandise is cleared out before the end of that season in order to keep shelves full.

October in July: Walgreens already stocking Halloween candy [Jill Cataldo]

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