GREED !
Hills Department Stores used to set one entire store up for Christmas in late August. Trees, tinsel, snowmen, Jingle Bells on the intercom, the whole nine yards. All just so that their buyers and senior execs could come and see what their Christmas merchandising setup was going to look like.
Or desperation.
Due to the Obama depression, I've had to start my own business, to find any kind of employment. I have an on-line business. One thing that I've learned is that Black Friday really is get-in-the-black Friday. You just break even for most of the year. Christmas literally is, do or die.
So I'm much more sympathetic to retailers than I used to be. There's no excuse for the "Happy Season" crap, though.