Key facts
- Store director Ben Kossack said Target has improved at staying relevant to the current season while letting early shoppers start the next one.
- Kossack said a featured faux fur apparel section will be replaced after Thanksgiving, which he called the first time that space gets two rounds of new merchandise after Halloween.
- Kossack said he has been hiring over the past several months to build store staff.
- Kossack said seven green chandeliers near the store entrance took one team leader most of a shift to assemble.
Target's West Madison store in Wisconsin has started moving its seasonal section from Halloween merchandise to Christmas trees, stockings and gingerbread houses, store director Ben Kossack said in a Business Insider report published November 10, 2026. Christmas Day was still more than six weeks away at the time of the report.
Kossack said the store had been "very much Halloween" two weeks before the report and was then transitioning into Christmas. He said Target has gotten better at staying relevant to the current season while letting early shoppers get a jump on the next one.
Earlier in Kossack's career, store teams had only a few days to set a store for Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the report. In recent years Target has taken a more phased approach, with Halloween costumes and candy displayed alongside tree ornaments and lights.
Kossack said a featured section of faux fur apparel near the front of the store will stay up only until Thanksgiving, after which new merchandise will replace it. He said it would be the first time in his recollection that the space gets two rounds of new merchandise after Halloween.
Kossack said he has been hiring over the past several months to build his staff, and that seven green chandeliers near the front of the store took one team leader most of a shift to assemble.