WHY? When school announced closures 4 days before St. Patrick's Day, the stores were stuck with a larger than normal St. Patrick's Day inventory they are still trying to clear out. Much of the Easter inventory was ordered weeks ago, and the stores cannot reduce the orders.

Non-grocery stores will most likely be the first to offer discounted candy, baskets, and decorations. That is what I saw at Big Lots. High volume grocery retailers like Wal-Mart will not have problems unloading their inventory, so I don't expect them to have an early clearance sale.