Valentine’s Day is most commonly framed as a day to celebrate love and the connection between two people, a day of expressing affection and appreciation. In modern times, it has been associated with the exchange of goods and services produced for commercial purposes, but this is not how Valentine’s Day began. The history of Valentine’s Day is rooted in Roman and Christian traditions, based around a Saint named Valentine. There are many different stories about the person Valentine was; however, one theme remained consistent throughout: wherever he went, love followed. Thus, making Saint Valentine a trademark of love and making his day of execution, February 14th, a day to celebrate it.
However, one trip to Downtown Evanston’s Target will reveal that Valentine’s Day, like most other holidays, is very commercialized. When you walk in the door, you see shelves lined with teddy bears, heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates, candy wrapped in pink and red wrappers, Valentine’s clothing, and more. It is a holiday that modern-day society has turned into a massive day of gift-giving.
According to the National Retail Foundation (NRF), in 2025, a total of $27.5 billion was spent on Valentine’s gifts. It is also predicted that in 2026, a total of $29.1 billion will be spent, with an average budget of $199.78 per gift.
Katherine Cullen, the NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights, suspects that the reason for this is “driven by middle- and high-income shoppers who are expanding their gift lists to include friends, co-workers and even pets in addition to loved ones.”
Sophomore Stella Gettelfinger said she “ feels pressure from big corporations [to make purchases for Valentine’s Day, mostly through things being in every store, advertised everywhere.”
Social media also plays an important role in Valentine’s Day consumerism. Sophomore Anya Siegel-Acevedo affirmed that.“Once New Year’s passes, my social media feed is full of the best things to get your partner or Valentine’s themed home decor.”
Siegel-Acevedo noted how exhausting it is to consume such things and how the trend of “gift-giving” and “spoiling” one’s partner detracts from the holiday.
“I think that Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all about buying things for each other, it’s about spending time with the people you love and showing appreciation for that.”
Although Valentine’s Day is heavily commercialized, many local small businesses find an upside in the holiday. Belgian Chocolatier Piron, a local family-owned business on Main Street, has been making and serving handmade chocolates since 1983. They have a selection of Valentine’s Day presents for one’s significant other, children, or friends.
Robert Piron, co-owner of Belgian Chocolatier Piron, discusses the impact of Valentine’s Day on the business’s sales.
“If everything works out right, Valentine’s Day has a very high potential to be the single busiest sales day of the year.”
It can be easy to view February 14th as another day on the sales calendar, and the numbers show that. However, beneath all of the marketing campaigns and heart-shaped displays is a more complex reality. For some, Valentine’s Day is seen as a day when pressure to buy is extreme. For others, the holiday remains what it was intended to be, a day to celebrate love and loved ones.
Valentine’s Day may have evolved from the original legend of a Saint who was associated with love into a multi-million dollar industry, but the question at its core still stands: is love measured in dollars spent, moments shared, or a mixture of both?
