Christmas sales are off to a brisk start in Steinbach according to a couple of retailers we talked to. Reynold Kroeker, the General Manager of Canadian Tire, says they have been busier than usual. He adds it all started with the early arrival of snow at the start of November which generated a lot of sales for all things winter.

"They've been surprisingly busy. I think with the early snowfall it sure got people in the mood for wanting to put on snow tires and the like. It really picked up early, especially compared to last year."

He adds the early snow also got people into the Christmas spirit early.

"We just had a big sale (Black Friday) and it was crazy busy in a good way. And, people just seemed very, very much in a good mood even with the line-ups we had. I think that Christmas spirit has hit and it hasn't slowed down. It's still going strong."

Amanda Lanteigne at Gold-N-Memories says people are in a very good mood as they shop for Christmas.Amanda Lanteigne of Gold-N-Memories agrees that the early snow led to an early start to Christmas sales.

"I think the snow definitely does something to our minds here in the southeast. I often wonder what's going to happen if we don't get snow until mid-December because I know how busy its gets then. The snow is a real blessing."

And, she adds customers are in a very good mood, even when waiting in line.

"Everybody is in a really good mood maybe because they're not under the pressure of Christmas being a couple of days away."

Christmas is just over three weeks away.