Halloween candy is still on sale in some D.C.-area supermarkets, but some large stores have skipped over Thanksgiving and are already focusing on other winter holidays.
At Bethesda Row in Maryland, white lights line nearby streets, and a large Christmas tree is on full display across the street from the Apple store.
Meanwhile, at the local Starbucks just off Wisconsin Avenue, a barista said the red and green holiday cups arrived Wednesday.
While some locals look forward to holiday lights, gifts and music, others told WTOP that early November is too early to be talking about the holiday season. And they wouldn’t be alone.
A CouponBirds survey of over 1,000 people found that over 82% said they experience “Christmas fatigue” as a result of all the “holiday hoopla” in advance of the holiday season. Seventy-five percent said they’re sick of Christmas music by Christmas Day.
“I feel like it is so divided when it comes to this,” Rae Daniel said on Thursday night in Bethesda. “But I want to enjoy Thanksgiving a little bit.”
She described Thanksgiving as her favorite holiday, and said Nov. 2 is too early to have holiday-themed wrapping paper in some stores.
“If it were Thanksgiving and Christmas, I would understand it,” Daniel said. “But Thanksgiving gets no love. At least show Thanksgiving love.”
Another shopper, Sarah, said it should be the holiday season “all year long,” but thought the Christmas tree up on Nov. 2 was a bit much.
Holiday music shouldn’t hit the radio waves until mid-November, she said, but it’s not too early for the Starbucks holiday cup.
“They make me very happy,” Sarah said. “They make the cost of a $7 cup of coffee worth it.”
More Bethesda Row shoppers chimed in. For people who don’t enjoy holiday cheer in early November, Eliana said, “You hate joy. Let people enjoy things. You don’t have to like it. Just don’t get (the Starbucks cup).”
Grace, meanwhile, said she’s fine with holiday decorations as long as it’s after Halloween, but she doesn’t enjoy the music.
“I don’t like it, pretty much across the board,” she said. “But I know that I have to endure it.”
