Never underestimate human ingenuity. It was just a few short years ago that if you wanted to eat conversation hearts, your only choice was to crunch or suck on some chalky, hard candies. Today, there are even more alternatives available for people who enjoy word-laden sweets, and the latest is conversation kisses from Hershey. [More]
one holiday at a time
Forget About Christmas: Let’s Move On To Valentine’s Day And Easter!
By 12.21.15
Yeah, there’s a holiday later this week or something. Retail stores don’t care about that anymore: they’ve got seasonal department shelves to fill, and most people who need garlands and lights have probably already bought ’em. What’s the next holiday? Valentine’s Day? Easter? Yeah, let’s move on to that. [More]
Please Stop Sharing This Photo Of A Nordstrom Anti-Christmas Creep Poster
By 11.10.15
Here in the Consumerist Cave, we’re always amused when a photo or a story makes a complete lap of the newsosphere, and a reader sends it to us having no idea that it originated with us. This week, things are starting to get strange, as social media users are sharing and even legitimate news outlets are posting a small, blurry camera phone photo of a sign posted at Nordstrom about their Christmas decorations policy. A photo that we posted six years ago. [More]
Yes, Here’s A Full Halloween Candy Display At Walgreens
By 7.21.15
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! [More]
Conversation Heart Jelly Beans Exist, Are Not Heart-Shaped
By 1.12.15
Every major holiday in the United States seems to have its own candy, which used to disappear from stores once that candy’s holiday was over. There are conversation hearts for Valentine’s Day, jelly beans and creme eggs for Easter, candy corn for Halloween, and candy canes for Christmas. Then the world went completely mad. [More]
Christmas Tree-Shaped Ice Cream Is Here In Time For, Um, Summer
By 8.11.14
What better way to celebrate “Christmas in July” than breaking out Reese’s peanut butter cups shaped like pine trees? Yeah, we didn’t think that it was such a good idea, either, especially since it’s no longer July. However, the freezer case at Walmart disagrees. [More]
Big Lots Celebrates Lots Of Holidays, All At Once
By 1.23.14
If you were wondering, Easter is April 20 this year. Christmas, of course, was December 25. At Big Lots, the period of mid-to-late January is a time of peaceful coexistence of holidays. It is a time when we celebrate both the birth and resurrection of Jesus. It is a time when the Easter stuff hits the shelves, even though the Christmas stuff hasn’t all sold yet. [More]
Easter Creep Spreads To CVS, Looks Delicious
By 1.7.14
Since shortly after Christmas Day, we’ve been tracking the spread of Easter Creep across the country. That’s when chocolate eggs and plastic bunnies hit store shelves before all of the unsold Christmas decorations are off the clearance shelf.
Up And At ‘Em, Easter Bunny: Chocolate Eggs Hit Shelves
By 12.30.13
This isn’t the earliest that we’ve ever seen it on the shelves, but we want to let our loyal readers know that Easter candy is now available at selected grocery stores nationwide. How do we know this? Our loyal readers have spotted the displays and reported back. [More]
Forget Christmas: Time To Buy Valentine’s Day Crap
By 12.23.13
This weekend, two readers sent us very similar “holiday creep” photos from two different kinds of retailers. Secret Consumerist synchronicity? Maybe. Or maybe the week before Christmas is now the universal time to put Valentine’s Day stuff out. [More]
Mystery Solved: Mounds Easter Egg Ice Cream Is Really Old
By 11.4.13
A few weeks ago, we shared with you a Holiday Creep mystery. A reader discovered Easter-themed ice cream on the shelf at Walmart, making us wonder: was it still on the shelves from 2013, or just early for 2014? The way things are going in retail, we couldn’t be sure. We wrote to Walmart corporate, and they didn’t answer. Then we got a response from the freezer case. So to speak. [More]
Even We Grudgingly Admire This Christmas/Halloween Mashup Wreath
By 10.23.13
Yes, we spend much of the fall whining about Christmas creep, Halloween creep, and retailers’ methods of mashing up the holidays so that one could, in theory, hand out candy canes to trick-or-treaters. We admire eye-catching displays when we see them, though, and this one from a small local pet store is just so wonderful. [More]
Are These Easter Ice Creams At Walmart Very Late Or Very Early?
By 10.22.13 — Updated: 4.2.14
Update: Mystery solved. At this point in the year, we can’t be sure whether an Easter item still on store shelves is early for Easter or just lingering months after the holiday. That’s the mystery of the Mounds Eggs that Micah found on the shelves of a Walmart in Georgia. [More]
Marketers Make Black Friday A Monthly Occurrence
By 10.1.13
It seems like a very long time ago that the phrase “Black Friday” referred to the day after Thanksgiving, an important but scary day in the retail calendar that kicked off the Christmas shopping season. Isn’t that still supposed to be the case? Not according to marketers, who have now expanded Black Fridays to every month of the year, because why not? [More]
Deals Are Better On Thanksgiving Than On Black Friday, And I Hate Everything
By 9.23.13
Here at Consumerist, we’ve been vociferously against Black Friday creep, the slow slide of the first official day of holiday shopping frenzy back into Thanksgiving Day. Last year, we supported retail employees who were against opening on Thanksgiving, and humbly suggested that retailers just go ahead and move Black Friday back a week. No one is listening to us. [More]
Best Buy Hops On Black Friday In July Bandwagon
By 7.25.13
We’ve noticed an awful lot of “Black Friday” sales recently, and developed a hypothesis that it’s a more inclusive variation of what used to be called “Christmas in July” sales. Now we’ve spotted another major retailer honoring this new holiday: Best Buy. [More]
