There's Easter Eggs in the Shops already!!"

[Char65]

Just a small rant but I popped into M&S yesterday (6th Jan) and couldn't believe my eyes - a whole aisle of Easter eggs!!! Goodness me, six days into the New Year, with Christmas barely behind us (the 12th day of Christmas was yesterday) and already the shops are selling Easter products! I kind of get the holiday ads because people need to book and plan for their summer holidays but surely Easter can wait until a few weeks before. Please tell me no one is buying chocolate eggs in January!

Are you new to shopping? I'd guess if you do a search you'll find this thread in the first week of Jan every year

I dont really get why it's an issue, isn't it like everything else in the supermarket that you dont want to buy, you just don't buy them

It's annoying, yes. People buy them to eat now too, then when it's actually time to buy them there is less choice.
On the one hand we're bombarded with 'new year diet/get fit' stuff and on the other it's 'Here, eat more chocolate!'
The overriding message is 'Buy! Buy! Buy!'

@VisionsOfSplendour we get our shopping delivered and where I possible I use the local shops - butchers, green grocers etc. so to be honest I don't do much food shopping in super markets.

I'll buy them from Feb due to the price, store them in the pantry ready for gifting at Easter.. and money has got very tight at the mo so I actually don't mind it this year 😏. They are pretty over £10 for a decent sized one!

So person who doesnt go shopping goes into a shop and is surprised by usual things that are found there ? 😃😂😂

I saw Malteaser Bunnies in a shop before Christmas years ago . This was a small shop so should be knocking out the Malteaser Reindeer or else they'd get stuck with them .

Sale price has a lot to do with why they're on the shelves so early I think. In Ireland anyway, items have to be on sale for 30 days at the higher price before supermarkets can do the major price offers we see. Was €10 (never in a million years worth a tenner), now 30 days later, its a miracle it can be sold for €5!

I buy easter eggs instead of normal chocolate bars 🤷🏼‍♀️

This happens every year. They clear the christmas stuff out and put easter and valentines stuff in its place. It's the seasonal aisle.

If it bothers you then don't buy it.

It's been happening for decades - I stopped working in a supermarket in 1997 and even then the Easter eggs and hot cross buns were all being put out on Boxing Day.

Local Iceland had crème eggs at the tills two weeks before Christmas. That’s the earliest I’ve seen them !

Yes, shops stock seasonal products ahead of the actual date of consumption. The "back to school" range goes on sale the moment the summer holidays starts. Like any other aisle I don't want to buy from, I wheel on by with my trolley and don't give it another thought.

They put them into the same aisle that had the Christmas decorations here.

So? If you don't want them then don't buy them. Other people do want to buy them, or retailers wouldn't dedicate so much shelf space to them.

There's lots in the supermarket that I don't want, and I just walk past it. Its easy.

It's the same every year why does it still surprise people?
My dd enjoyed a small buttons easter egg today from tesco.

It used to be, Valentine's day, then Mother's day but with spring chocolates put out, then Easter. I can understand Easter and MD being combined because they are close together. I do like to shop for things as soon as they come into the shops. As soon as I take down the Christmas decorations I start to look at Easter decorations.

I didn't see any Valentine's Day cards or anything, which is strange as it's only next month. Only Easter things.
( not that I buy anything or have any interest in Valentine's Day)

I love mini eggs. I wish they'd come up with festive ones

I work in a supermarket we started getting the Easter stuff sent into the warehouse at the start of December ready to fill the seasonal aisles with them as soon as the Christmas stuff was cleared out. We usually get a few things in for January but with Easter being early this year (last weekend in March) we have got a lot more in a lot earlier than usual.

It happens all the time - there is a clear cycle to the seasonal products and all are stocked starting about 3 months out: Valentine's/Mother's Day/Easter/St Patrick's Day/Father's Day/Summer BBQs/Back to school/Halloween/Bonfire Night/Christmas/New Year/Valentine's etc etc

I do like it though, especially for the big celebrations like Easter/Christmas where I may be buying things for multiple family members as it helps me budget. By having things out a couple of months in advance I can buy a few bits at a time, each pay day, in the couple of months preceding the holiday and put them away so that closer to the time I only have to buy perishable items/last minute bits rather than get everything all at once. Yes I could save the money but I find this way easier.

Stores know that people will be split into two camps - 1) buy in advance to spread the cost and 2) buy in advance, consume early and then have to rebuy again closer to the holiday don't ask how many tubs of quality street we went through in my house between October and now

The former buy more if they can spread the cost and the latter buy more because they have zero willpower to resist ... Either way the companies are quids in because the early marketing works so they'll keep doing it.

They were there on a Christmas Eve, the Christmas stuff as turned over and Easter put in place. They hope you’ll buy eggs, Eat them then replace them, eat them again….

I prefer rows of Easter eggs to all the horrible diet stuff that always fills supermarket fridges in January.

I stacked shelves as a student back in 1996 in the local Tesco. My job at the end of Christmas Eve was to clear back some Christmas stock and put out the mini eggs instead.

Been like this for a while.
I used to live somewhere Easter eggs were very hard to find, and €£$. I used to stock up on creme eggs and mini eggs when visiting home at Easter. £15 in tesco for a decent haul, or £15 equivalent for a small button Easter egg. No contest!

YABU to have only just noticed this. We spotted them in supermarkets on 27 Dec. They have been rolling both the birth and death of Christ into a single retail event for years.

Blame the muppets who buy Easter eggs in December, Christmas chocolates in August etc etc not the supermarkets who simply cater for that demand. Business is business.