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WALPOLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Some Boston-area vendors have apparently thrown in the towel on summer. Two popular stores in Walpole are offering pumpkin spice-flavored goods right now, in the middle of August.
7/11 and Dunkin' on Main Street are in fall mode. Owners and workers at both stores justified the "season creep" by saying fall-flavored offerings are deeply popular with customers, so they've decided to capitalize.
"Pumpkin is a big thing, so we started up earlier this year," said the owner of the 7/11. An employee at the Dunkin' said customers are usually very excited to find their fall flavors are back in store.
It's not just in the Boston area. Nationally, the corporate pumpkin season began earlier than ever this year. The local Dunkin' has beat the national corporate rollout of fall flavors by about a week — those pumpkin-flavored goodies will be out on August 17. 7/11's national rollout was even earlier, on August 5, while pumpkin spice latte king Starbucks has yet to announce its return.
Reviews were mixed for customers on the street.
"I think it takes away from having pumpkin in the fall if you have it back early," said one self-proclaimed pumpkin-lover at Dunkin.
Henry from Franklin disagrees, saying August has become a transition month. "People will be in 'going back to school mode' in the next two weeks,'" he said. "People will be thinking of fall."
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) spoke to customers in Walpole:
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