Who Stole Christmas?
Published on December 11, 2025, at 1:31 p.m.
by Addie Nails
I was growing up, the Grinch who stole Christmas was a grumpy, green creature with a heart three sizes too small. Today, the thief of Christmas looks a little different. It isn’t hiding in the mountains above Whoville—it’s standing proudly on store shelves, trending on TikTok and landing in our carts long before the Christmas season even begins.
In late September, Dollar General rolled out its Holly Dolly Christmas collection featuring Dolly Parton’s own line of home décor and holiday cheer. FASHIONPHILE, an online luxury secondhand platform, announced Martha Stewart as its 2025 holiday ambassador on Halloween. In this role, Stewart has curated a list of her favorite designer gifts and festive finds. If this year is anything like 2024, there’s surely more to come. The premature holiday launches are hard to ignore. When Christmas shows up before the leaves even finish changing colors, it starts to feel like the season is being taken from us before it even begins.
It’s not just creators feeding into the holiday frenzy—brands have also created their annual staples for the season. Ralph Lauren has its iconic teddy bears, Bath & Body Works releases endless seasonal scents, Starbucks rolls out its famous red cups and holiday drinks and Coca-Cola keeps its classic polar bears and on repeat.
And of course, you cannot forget holiday advent calendars. Once a simple childhood countdown, these calendars packed with “holiday exclusives” have turned unboxing into the main event. From Sephora’s beauty minis to OPI’s nail polishes and Aldi’s surprisingly creative seasonal assortments—there is an advent calendar for almost anything. While these calendars offer 24 days of excitement, they also come with a steep price tag— retailing anywhere from $25 to several hundred or thousands of dollars, depending on the brand.
The Grinch once stole Christmas by sneaking into homes, but now we willingly let it slip away in plain sight—one “limited edition” or “holiday exclusive” at a time.
So, let’s be honest: When did we decide to trade tradition for trends? And isn’t it time to take Christmas back?
