Christmas Creep, 2019 Edition: Big Retailers Extend Holiday Shopping Season Even Further

Just a few years ago, Black Friday still meant something. Some retailers might start displaying their Christmas decorations a bit earlier, but it wasn't until the day after Thanksgiving that they'd deploy the major sale prices and kick off the holiday shopping season.

In recent years, though, the starting date for that rush of retail madness has crept forward. Sales began appearing in the week of Thanksgiving, and more chains started opening with alluring deals on Thanksgiving Day itself. In short order, holiday shopping season expanded to include all of November.

So if you were hoping that candy, costumes, and spookiness could hold the line on Christmas creep at Nov. 1, you probably should have known better. This year, here we are, a week before Halloween, and a number of major retailers -- led by Walmart (NYSE: WMT) -- have already begun their holiday season sales. In one sense, that's beneficial to consumers, but it's also confusing, because with two months of nonstop big sales, it's even harder to know when to buy in order to get the best deals.

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Source Fool.com