"I think, yes, there is a reason (for the holiday ads appearing early this year), and it's one word, the economy. Retailers are worried this season. Now you might say, 'Aren't they always worried?' Well, yes, they are, but I think they have a good reason to be worried this season," says Walden, a North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist and professor of agricultural and resource economics. "A lot of the economic numbers are showing a dramatically slowing economy, not recession, but slowing growth.

"Gas prices are up. Oil prices are up. Of course we have the housing crunch. We've got consumer confidence indicating that consumers are worried. People are talking about recession, even though I don't think that will occur. And so this is all weighing on consumers. There is a lot of concern that consumer spending is slowing down, some indicators pointing to that."

Walden adds, "And of course retailers are reading all of this information and they're saying, 'Gee, if we don't do something, this could be a very dismal buying season.' And the weapon retailers have at their disposal is to start advertising earlier and promote their products and services and also promote deals, cutting prices and so forth. The good news about all this, with the early Christmas season, is that it does put the buyer in the driver's seat. There should be many more bargains out there for Christmas buyers. But, yes it really does come down to the economy."