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DENVER — It’s not even Halloween, but that’s not stopping some big-name stores from breaking out the Christmas decorations. It seems we’re starting to see Santa earlier each year.

“Halloween is supposed to feel spooky and you’re going inside stores and you see trees and presents and stuff like that,” 16th Street Mall shopper Gerardo Delgado said.

It’s known as the “Christmas creep.”

“Like the last five years it’s gone boom, like Christmas in freaking October,” Shari Knox said.

Retailers are again moving up the holiday shopping season.

“I went to Wal-Mart the other day, and I did a Snapchat story thing, and I was like it’s not even November and they have trees out,” Delgado said.

Some say it’s reaching the point of overhyped holiday mania.

“I think we should enjoy the time that is given for the holidays that’s supposed to be given instead of rushing it,” Knox said.

So will we start seeing Santa in September? Ali Besharat, a department of marketing assistant professor in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, said it’s possible.

But he added it could be a challenge for retailers to stock store shelves that far in advance.

“I think the only thing that may stop them from carrying Christmas items like three months in advance is just a stocking issue at the retail stores,” Beshart said. “But on the website, why not? As long as you have inventory, people may buy it.”

For Nicole Cammans, an ornament personalizer at St. Nick’s in Littleton, Christmas lasts almost year-round. She enjoys writing names and dates on Christmas keepsakes, and has been doing so for the past six years. It’s hard not to, she said, given the jolly environment.

“It`s really hard to be sad in this store,” Cammans said.

The clock counts down with 56 days to go, and St. Nick’s shoppers are already getting a head start. Lauren Thompson of Broomfield stopped by the store Thursday with her family.

“My family likes to start decorating early,” Thompson said.

If you’re already in the holiday spirit, just turn on the radio. In the Denver area, 107.9 FM is broadcasting continuous Christmas music.