Simply put, assuming the books will balance eventually, would you rather hold the money or hold the IOU, and for how long? If you hold the money as it changes hand, you can make money off of that (or use it for opening the next store).
For a corporation where revenues are consistent, 90 days of payables that you haven't paid anybody yet could be equivalent to tens or hundreds of millions of interest-free loans.
Home depot notoriously has payment terms that can extend beyond one year.
Edit:
To add on to that, understanding the accounting of E,I,T,D, & A (earnings, interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization) as in EBITDA is an important factor to grokking beyond the surface of the article. Basically cash accounting versus amortization accounting.