The back-to-school rush has come and gone and in its wake, Christmas decorations are creeping into Metro Vancouver stores.

Lights, trees, cards and crackers fill an entire aisle at Vancouver’s Costco and Safeway has stocked eggnog on its shelves. At Walmart, a number of outdoor lights were set up just across from the Halloween décor.

But while it's still technically summer, this year’s start to the festive season has begun a little later than it did in 2016 when Costco was selling trees by early August.

According to experts, the trend of Christmas sales before summer’s end isn’t new. In fact, Christmas ads ran as early as mid-August back in the 1800s.

Even so, with Christmas still 98 days away, this year’s holiday spirit might be coming too early for some shoppers.

Some people who spoke to CTV News on Monday said they hate the early "Christmas creep."

“What’s Christmas stand for? Materialism or the good lord?” one person asked.

Psychologist Joti Samra says many people associate holidays with financial stress, and that could be one reason early Christmas displays trigger such fierce debate.

"There is this feeling, when we start to see this heavy, aggressive marketing that requires money and funds, that we get this kind of increased stress starting already," Samra said.

CTV News reached out to Costco but the company declined to do an interview – leaving their in-store Christmas displays to stand as their only statement on the matter.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Ben Miljure