Remember when Black Friday actually meant that big sales happened on a day that followed Thursday on the calendar?

This year - in response to the economy and national projections that sales could be flat to worse during the holidays - some national merchants are pushing the season.

Among them: Sears, which promised to start its Black Friday deal season before Halloween, according to a story on "Christmas Creep" published today by the Associated Press.

And Sears isn't the only retailer pushing the season: Many national and local toy retailers are sending out their catalogs now, and other stores are launching aggressive sales.

For example, here are other slogans from the weekend's sale fliers that also suggest Christmas Creep:

• "New Lower Prices" from Walgreens. • "Home for the Holidays" from JC Penney. • Free Wii game at Target when you buy two ... the first sign that consumer may find real video game deals beyond the typical bundle pricing. • The Christmas Countdown (with prizes up to $50,000) at Kmart.

For more on the topic, check out that Associated Press story here.