Comment: Christmas comes early as retailers display festive stock

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When I worked in stores, Christmas wasn’t the festive two days in December alone. It started in August when the tins of sweets arrived and ended in early January.

When I worked in stores, Christmas wasn’t the festive two days in December alone. It started in August when the tins of sweets arrived and ended in early January when the final packets of slow-moving, heavily discounted confectionery had sold through.

Of course, the build-up is all for the main event - the big grocery shops carried out on December 22 and 23.

Customers dragging two trolleys around the store and buying entire crops of vegetables and dozens of treats in case of extra guests is synonymous with working in a supermarket at Christmas.

But Christmas appears to be getting earlier as retailers display festive stock in August.

No sooner had we left the ludicrously hot summer, than we were greeted by selection boxes alongside garden furniture and barbecues in some stores.

The Co-op won this year’s race to start Christmas early with stacks of Cadbury’s Snowmen chocolates on display from mid-August.

It was also selling Irn-Bru featuring the Snowman from last year - remarkable.

Those who follow me on Twitter will know about #keepingchristmasgoing, which focuses on retailers leaving advertising in place or still having products on sale relating to the festive period. Christmas is easy to spot in January, but the thrill of seeing Santa on a Coca-Cola bottle in May is almost as exciting as Christmas day itself.

Christmas is the cup final for retailers, the time of course when customers spend more money on gifts and, in particular, premium food and drink.

Tesco’s relaunch of its Finest range is the major news ahead of this festive season. It looks set to be a winner with the relaunch so close to Christmas.

Sainsbury’s always performs well at Christmas. Customers trade up to shop there and its Taste the Difference range is almost a byword for premium, quality food.

Waitrose has performed well this year and has let Heston Blumenthal loose again after the success of his hidden-orange Christmas puddings.

However, surely these don’t match up to the Co-op’s Reindeer Droppings - which are in fact chocolate covered raisins.