It seems that the holiday shopping season begins earlier and earlier, and this year is no exception.

With Halloween barely over, stores are already bringing out the Christmas merchandise.

Beth Harvey, co-manager at Walmart, 2300 Sycamore Road, said they brought out their Christmas merchandise before Halloween.

“It kind of transposes from Halloween into Christmas,” Harvey said. “It’s set by corporate.”

Rich Para, owner of Sweet Earth Jewelry and Gifts, 341 W. State St. in Sycamore, said the store made their Christmas merchandise available at the beginning of October.

“Almost all of our Christmas merchandise is already upstairs, and we have it in combination with some of the fall and Thanksgiving seasonal stuff,” Para said.

Sweet Earth brings out their holiday merchandise this early in the season because this is the climate of the current market, Para said.

“Everybody’s got to get their stuff up first or be pretty close to being first because all the big box stores, the larger stores, are doing it sometimes even at the end of September,” Para said. “We’re trying to compete as much as we can with them.”

Additionally, Para said with so many people coming to Sycamore for Pumpkin Fest, it is in the store’s interest to show a variety of merchandise early in the holiday season.

“We will go almost the route of not carrying what they carry just to make sure that the customer that we bring in is looking for what we have,” Para said. “We’ll take our time and when we go to the trade shows that are showing the holiday merchandise I’ll always ask if they sell to big box stores because if they do, in most cases I won’t buy it.”

Senior English major DJuana Davis does not mind seeing Christmas displays so early in the season.

“I think stores display Christmas so soon for the advertisement and to promote the spirit for giving or ‘buying,'” Davis said. “It does not bother me though, I love Christmas.”

Brandon Johnson, junior recording engineering major, said Christmas decorations can get in the way of other holidays.

“I think it’s ridiculous to bring Christmas into stores right after Halloween,” Johnson said. “What about Thanksgiving? Decorations get in the way anyway because they make a huge mess.”

Para said they are hoping for a good holiday season this year.

“We’re still dragging along with the economy here and being in a smaller area,” Para said. “We know that it’s going to take a while, but things are starting to happen a little bit better for us.”