Who Cares About Calendars? The Pumpkin Spice Latte Is Here Which Means Fall Has Begun

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Starbucks beat its own record this year, rolling out the Pumpkin Spice Latte a full 24-hours earlier than it did last year. Still, it lags behind the Aug. 18, Dunkin Donuts rollout of a similar beverage.

Chelsea Kyle/Starbucks

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Chelsea Kyle/Starbucks

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A shelf full of goth dolls for sale at Albertsons grocery store in Los Angeles.

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A shelf full of goth dolls for sale at Albertsons grocery store in Los Angeles.

Sanden Totten/Sanden Totten

Albertsons, another grocery store chain, was less overt about the mid-summer fall craze but a participant nonetheless. There are no signs announcing the arrival of Halloween but shelves at a Los Angeles market have been stocked with unidentified creepy goth dolls next to a candle display.

«Plan your Halloween glow up, Target.com urges customers.

Obviously, retailers and big box chains wouldn’t be jumping on the fall/Halloween bandwagon if it weren’t lucrative and it seems customers are here for it.

During an earnings call last week, Home Depot boasted that stores «almost immediately sold out of a sneak peek of a line of Halloween products that was unveiled online earlier this month.

«That’s a very strong indication that people are still going to engage in decorating, management said in a conference call, NBC reported.

Like it or not, people are going to engage indeed.