AFA announced their "naughty or nice" list, retailers that support or oppose Christmas

Click here for AFA list ^

[onyx]

BOOKMARK = SAVING!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Target banned the Salvation Army bell ringers (along with some malls and some other chains which have since gone out of business) on the advice of legal counsel.

It is basically all about remaining non-union. Most retailers have a blanket non-solicitation on the premises policy to keep union organizers out of the building.

If you make one exception, even for something as altruistic as the Salvation Army, the UFCW is liable to come down on you with a ton of lawyers and demand equal treatment.

There is a bell ringer outside my local WalMart, so apparently they are willing to take that risk. But many aren’t. I know Target recently fought a big anti-union battle in it’s home state of Minnesota.

[SouthTexas]

My approach is quite simple, you either say Merry Christmas AND have a Salvation Army bell ringer out front, or you don’t get my money.

[Texan]

I’m scheduled to ring the Salvation Army bell this Friday at our local Walmart. It’s actually fun. Volunteer to do this sometime and see.

[SouthTexas]

Thank you for your effort. Think I’ll stay on the other side of the kettle though. :)

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

Active duty Army here. I got an email this morning from the post Chaplain inviting everybody to his Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony; the email was sent to everybody on post. I forwarded the email to my boss telling him that I was thinking about telling the post Chaplain that my company and I will be attending a Christmas Tree ceremony and will not be able to attend his Holiday Tree ceremony.

I also received the post December community calendar in my email this morning. Nowhere does the word Christmas appear anywhere on the list of activities and events that are happening on post this month.

There is a bowling tournament called Bowl with Santa and an event called JingleJam, but the word Chistmas doesn't appear anywhere.

[cephalopod]

For what it is worth. I am a seasonal worker at Macy’s. When I was in training, I asked about preferred greetings to customers. The answer was that they love Christmas and it is part of the company’s heritage; use Merry Christmas (if it’s your preference) but try to be sensitive to the customer. Most of us use Merry Christmas consistently. Large companies are going to have a hard time passing the Freeper purity test due to celebrity use or whatever.

Just to note to all regarding Target. I worked there a few years ago as a Team Lead (manager of the front end of the store). No, they didn’t allow SA to ring bells in the front, but this was due to the overwhelming number of requests that the store got.

While I was there, there must have been a half dozen groups wanting space over the Christmas season; some even threatened boycotts citing the bad press over the SA. The local store had no say; corporately they decided that if you let one in you have to let them all in. Not everbody wants to be accosted by bell ringers, girl scouts, soccer teams, Sierra Club etc. when they go shopping. I don’t mind myself, but it can be a bit much sometimes. Hooray for Wal-Mart if they can somehow walk that line, but I understand and accept Target’s position.

As far as SA goes, the year I worked at Target they gave the SA $1M plus the proceeds of an exclusive SA ornament that they sold at the stores. I expect that that was as much as SA might have gotten through it’s kettles without any of the work. Target is a strong supporter of local groups and charities. Again, as a large corporation, they do what they can but you can’t make everyone happy.

[ADemocratNoMore]

Does anybody know if Wallmart still matches every dollar put into the S.A. kettle, cause nobody at Wallmart (or for that matter the S.A. bell-ringers) do. I heard about it a few years ago and have made it a point to give at those locations, but the last few years, nobody seems to know anything about it so I guess it's no longer being done.

[JLLH]

I use both “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” because for me the “holidays” encompass an entire season which includes Christmas but also the New Year. I only get upset if there is a deliberate attempt to remove Nativity scenes, silence Christians about Christmas, call the Christmas tree a “Holiday Tree” or some other comparable nonsense. I don’t consider a business to be “against” Christmas if they say “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” because “Holidays” mean more than just Dec. 25th to many.

[JLLH]

I agree. The whole behavior means much more than just the particular phrase they use or don’t use.

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you! I had not seen this.

Thankfully, my “naughty or nice” radar is very good.

I had NO idea! lol

[clyde260]

I understand that the reason Target, Walmart, Home Depot... do not allow ANY solicitation on their premises is because of the unions. It’s a legal thing, they have a blanket policy: No Solicitation. If they even allow Girl Scout cookies, it opens the door for open union solicitation.

So that unfortunately includes many good organizations such as the Salvation Army.