Forget Black Friday: More people embrace ‘Christmas in July’

Tucked deep inside Catherine Spruill’s bedroom closet sit two plastic bins beneath a mountain of clothes. One holds emergency gift cards. The other Christmas presents.

- KAILYN RHONE

She has been stockpiling gifts for the December holidays since June, hunting for summer sales across big-box retailers in her hometown, Stratford, Connecticut, stretching her income across two children, extended family and a long list of friends.

Ms Spruill, 34, has already picked up more than 25 toys and video games for around $350. Her best find so far: matching holiday pyjama sets for herself and two sons, ages 13 and 3 — all for $28, thanks to a 50%-off sale at Kohl's.

Black Friday no longer marks the beginning of the holiday retail season, as a growing number of shoppers and retailers are embracing what's being called “Christmas in July.”

“These are the best weeks to do Christmas shopping because you're going to get more bang for your buck/” said Ms Spruill, who is a home health aide. “Stores are trying to get rid of stuff to the point they're handing it to you.”

Ms Spruill has been doing her holiday shopping months in advance since 2020, when she watched a coupon clipper on YouTube rave about using July clearance sales for holiday shopping. That same summer, she scored a bicycle on sale for $48 at Walmart, marked down from around $120. Over the past five years, Ms Spruill said, she has saved thousands using this strategy.

Rising costs, inflation and uncertainty around tariffs are pushing shoppers, particularly parents, to take early holiday shopping more seriously. Some 21% of 1,062 people surveyed by CivicScience, a Pittsburgh-based research firm, said they had already started holiday shopping this summer, up from 16% a year ago.