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Some Americans are already finished holiday shopping

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If Santa Claus gives points to people who start their shopping early, then a significant number of Americans are already in his good book. The rest of the country, however, isn’t impressed, according to a new survey from CreditCards.com

Extrapolating from the CreditCards.com survey of 1,000 consumers in mid-September, some 1 million Americans are completely finished with their holiday shopping, while another 34 million have already started their gift-buying. Everyone else, though, is largely annoyed by these overachievers, CreditCards.com said. 

Holiday decorations and gifts are already appearing in stores, such as the lineup of holiday decorations Costco (COST) has squeezed in between its Halloween candy and costumes. Holiday creep has become the norm as retailers try to get the most out of the biggest shopping season of the year. 

But most Americans say they’re turned off by the trend, with more than three-quarters agreeing that it’s wrong to see the holiday season start so soon.

“There are definitely a bunch of people who might be annoyed by how early the holiday shopping season begins but are still holiday shoppers,” said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. “Generally, the younger you are, the less likely you are to care about these things. White, older, more affluent consumers are more likely to want stores to wait longer.”

That could be due to the fact that younger shoppers are more likely to shop online, and thus aren’t as likely to encounter holiday tinsel. About 58 percent of Americans still prefer to shop in stores, while 21 percent order gifts online and 11 percent shop on their mobile phones.

By the end of November, one-quarter of U.S. adults plan to have finished their holiday shopping, the study found.

The National Retail Federation told the Trib Total Media that while it doesn’t track when stores start to put out holiday items, it believes this year might represent the earliest start to the holiday season yet. 

The traditional start to the holiday is Black Friday, the day immediately following Thanksgiving. This year, Black Friday falls on Nov. 25. Yet retailers have been kicking off Black Friday sales earlier each year, with some opening their doors on Thanksgiving day or launching sales in early November.

On the other hand, a number of retailers are gaining fans for closing their doors on Thanksgiving. So far, several retailers have already announced they’ll stay shut on Thanksgiving, including Costco and Nordstrom (JWN), according to BestBlackFriday.com.

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