Every year at the end of Thanksgiving, Daniel Hochberg knows exactly what makes him feel the holiday season.

“I walk into the kitchen, open up the fridge, and see hot chocolate and spices at the front compartment,” said Daniel, a junior at Mary Institute Country Day School (MICDS).

Ahhh, winter.

For Daniel, the snowy days of winter only start when November ends. He shudders when he sees Santa’s sleighs and reindeer in stores at the beginning of October.

“It’s phony, all phony,” Daniel said.

For Daniel, the early onset of the holiday spirit has decreased his spirit. He no longer feels chills when he hears Christmas music and when he sees menorahs.

“It definitely takes a lot out of me,” Daniel said. “When it’s all spread out, you tend to appreciate things less.”

Each year, as businesses seek to take in greater profits from consumers, the holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier. According to Adam Starling, economics teacher at Marquette High School, this is due to a phenomenon known as maximization of profit.

“The longer that they have the holiday advertisements [and] the holiday themes, the more they think that people are going to purchase those products because they are readily available,” Starling said.

Starling said that consumers aren’t going to be paying attention to how much they spend over a longer period of time.

“If you only have the holiday stuff from Black Friday to Christmas, that’s less than 30 days to be able to purchase the product,” Starling said. “It it’s coming out after Halloween, you have almost two months for people to slowly be buying things and lose track of what they are spending.”

Jacob Eisenkramer, a senior at Marquette High, first saw Christmas decorations this year two weeks before Halloween. Jacob said Hanukkah’s close chronological connection with other days of worship gives consumers holiday fatigue — one not based solely upon Christmas.

“When people set up Christmas decorations, to some extent, people also consider it to be Hanukkah decorations,” Jacob said. “It’s mainly that whole season in an essence, that is far more profitable than others.”

Jacob said, despite its drawbacks, he likes the drawn out schedule. It allows him to plan ahead and get his shopping done without much fuss.

“I actually like [it], because without them I would probably forget what the holiday was all about,” Jacob said. “When I can’t think of what to buy someone, those ads tell me what’s popular.”

Bobby Matthews, a junior at MICDS, has been working at Dierbergs since the start of December. Matthews said he’s noticed the holiday decorations around the workplace.

“Definitely just a lot of little trinkets, knickknacks all over the place,” Bobby said.

Bobby said stores like his promote the holidays in an effort to tell consumers to continue to shop there — to come for the food, and stay for the spirit.

“We want people to come here for everything,” Bobby said.