Best Buy? I was just there last night and they have Christmas coming out of every corner of their store. Maybe the stores are locally controlled and this is a reaction to one. Our local Starbucks has a huge 'happy holidays' sign, but it hasn't seemed to slow down traffic.. Saying Happy or Holidays or any combination of the two is in no way excluding the words Merry or Christmas or any combination of the two.
I was in K-Mart yesterday (Branson, Missouri) and over the loud speaker in the store they wished all shoppers a "Merry Christmas." I was delighted to hear it.