you know I worked part-time in a Hallmark store in college and the Christmas ornaments arrived to the stores during the summer. We had strict instructions not to open them and we could only put them out on display on the date they told us to. But it seemed soooo early! So many people collected the ornaments we'd have people waiting in line the first day they were out.
I don't know if that is how they still do it, but this was a long time ago.