AS SEPTEMBER dawns, the first Christmas trees have been spotted on the high street.

Retailers, it seems, are keen to make the season of goodwill as long and lucrative as they can in 2010.

The first “tree” I spotted was a cardboard contraption forming part of a stand awaiting delivery of those seasonal staples – giant tins of Quality Street. It appeared in a south Liverpool newsagent last week to the evident dismay of the staff who seem to share some customers’ concern over the timing of the arrival.

The previous week, a colleague returned from a trip south to report Christmas cards being unpacked for display and sale at a service area on the M40.

I recall Christmas trees being delivered to Harrods one very hot August day, when the temperature in Britain hit an all-time high of just over 37 degrees Celsius.

It’s little surprise that sections of the retail sector are preparing this early. They need to make the most they can as difficult trading conditions persist. Their forward planning also allows people to start their own spending earlier, of course.

Does that actually mean people spend more on Christmas if they start putting purchases aside earlier? That must be a possibility the retailers are seeking to make the most of.

They will also know, of course, only too well, how we, the great shopping public, have been behaving since last Christmas.

The downturn may be abating, but uncertainty persists over job security and income for a great many families. Stocking up with seasonal goods long before Christmas arrives may be a less than subtle way of persuading us all to start spending sooner, rather than later.

Year on year, the whole high street approach to Christmas, and the millions of pounds spent on marketing it, mirrors the approach supermarkets have taken to what were once seasonal vegetables.

By prolonging their availability, the seasonal boundaries are a blurred thing of the past.

Hopefully we are some way off the appearance of year-round Christmas shops. We should remember, though, that the only reason these emporia survive is because they are supplying a demand.

Seasonal trading offers an interesting dipstick measure of economic performance.