Halloween is three months from today – so what are you waiting for? Better head to your local grocery store and start stocking up on candy!
“Holiday creep” has made its way into the dead of summer, as there are several reports of Halloween candy displays going up in supermarkets. Joe found some at a grocery store in Vermont. Cliff found a Halloween display at a Pathmark in New Jersey. Debra spotted some in a Giant Eagle in Ohio. And Adam came across some Halloween candy in a Boston-area Stop & Shop.
Maybe it’s a Northeast thing? That part of the country also jumped aboard the Easter candy bandwagon, shortly after the New Year’s Eve ball dropped in Times Square.
But do you really want Halloween candy that someone stuffed into their hot trunk in July, and stored in their un-air-conditioned pantry for a few months before the first costumed kids even came around? As long as your kids don’t mind trick-or-treating for blobs of chocolate that have melted and reformed inside the wrapper several times.
“I can’t believe Pathmark has Halloween candy out already,” one shopper scolded on the store’s Facebook page. “Shame on you!!!!” Pathmark didn’t respond.
Worst of all, the candy isn’t even on sale, so why would anyone buy so early at full price when you know the sales and coupons are going to come around when we actually get in the neighborhood of Halloween?
But wait. The candy is on sale at the aforementioned Stop & Shop. The display says the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats are “buy one, get one free.” Which leads one to believe they could be trying to get rid of some of last year’s leftovers.
Eew. It’s not as though candy really goes bad, but still.
So if you spy some Halloween candy at your local store, and spot a shopper buying some, better ask them where they live – and remember not to go to their house this Halloween.
Then again, they’ll probably be too busy getting ready for New Year’s to be handing out Halloween candy this year anyway.
