Posted on 12/02/2004 8:07:01 AM PST by SmithL
The Salvation Army has received an outpouring of support after reports that two major department store chains -- Target and Mervyn's -- had banned the charity's holiday bell ringers from collecting donations in front of their stores, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The Salvation Army's office in San Francisco received scores of calls from people who said they were shocked by the chains' decision to boot the little red kettles off their property after years of permitting the collections. Some callers said they were writing letters to the corporations; others promised to boycott the stores.
"People are saying they are saddened that the stores won't let the bell ringers be there,'' said Jennifer Byrd, the Salvation Army spokeswoman for the area from the Bay Area to Bakersfield. "People are really coming out to tell us stories about how important the Salvation Army is."
A spokeswoman for Target said its no-solicitation policy would remain in force. Representatives for Mervyn's did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Target and Mervyn's have banned the kettle collectors altogether. Safeway has cut back the number of days that Salvation Army collectors can stand in front of its supermarkets this holiday season.
That means the loss of big money. Donations to the kettle pots, a tradition that started in San Francisco in 1891 with a crab pot at the foot of Market Street, accounted for $93 million nationwide last year.
In response to the ban by Target and Mervyn's, other retailers have called to offer their storefront locations to the kettle ringers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I see you just recently signed up, so I suppose you work for Target and can readily pass along the message that my family will be boycotting their store this Christmas season.
You apparently get annoyed very easily.
Suprisingly, WalMart is where I've encountered the only kettle fo far this year.
Shamefully, those same merchants afraid of the SA's kettles banned the VFW from "selling" poppies this past Veteran's Day. I specifically looked for them and couldn't find a one.
Well the bell is at a pretty grating pitch and decible level for me. But probably what causes the most irritation about the bell ringers is that for many they symbolize everything that's wrong about Christmas, with their traditional place in front of department stores that bell is the symbol of annoying crowds and crass commercialism because they stand at the border of all that during the Christmas shopping season. It's for a worthy cause, and I try to stick a buck in in the bucket periodically, but I can fully understand why they drive some people batty.
Personally I have no problem with this policy. These are publically owned, if the stockholders have no problem with it, then why should anyone else...la
Yep, better watch that Salvation Army. Their troopers are a mighty force to have to contend with...
UNNNGH! Ain't it something how facts always seems to get in the way.
I kinda like the sound of the bell ringers at Christmas.
And without fail, the expressions on the faces of the Salvation Army volunteers as you pass by and donate or not donate is usually gentle, friendly and it lifts my spirts to see them.
Is K-Mart allowing them this year does anyone know?
Wow...lighten up Francis. Not everybody is as charitable as you. Maybe more would be a little more charitable if they didn't have to pay for your Social Security. Enjoy your retirement.
As will the blanket order issued to my family to stay out of *all* Dayton-Hudson stores.
We're even.
"Representatives for Mervyn's did not return phone calls seeking comment."
Now *that* is the response I'm used to seeing from the brainstems responsible for implementing the outrageous PC-based stupidity.
Fortunately for me.
...I've never heard of *Mervyn's*.
Yes, I'm the one you need to worry about, not those folks going around calling kind-hearted volunteers raising money for poor people "annoying."
That's a play on the store's name, they aren't owned by a French company. They are owned by the Dayton corporation based in Minnesota.
It seems very ironic to me that a company which prides itself on "Community Involvement" has seen fit to pull the Salvation Army bellringers this Christmas season. For that reason alone, I will NOT be shopping at Target, Mervyn's, Marshall Fields and any other Dayton-Hudson-owned company and will choose to spend my money elsewhere.
Message to "Tar-jay" and Mervyns.
HAPPY FEAST OF MAMMON*
*the god of filthy lucre
First off, you signed up as a Freeper only after the lid blew off the Target screw-up.
Second, Target is more than happy to shill on their internet homepage for St. Jude's Children's Hospital (While St. Jude's is probably a worthy charity, it doesn't proclaim the Gospel as a part of its mission). Why would permitting the Salvation Army to raise money expose Target to this risk you claim to perceive but Target raising money for St Judes not do so?
Well that's strike two.
Pathetic conclusion and pathetic arguments. I am a healthcare professional.
Hey Sherlock, keep your day job, will you? I swear, looks as if the "blue states" disease has infected some of you, where spin is being utilized as a substitute for considered thought. St. Jude doesn't collect money at the door as SA does. And Walmart has decreased the alloted time this Christmas for the Salvation Army volunteers to ONLY 2 weeks. It is a trend and it has nothing to do with the retailers but with this madness which has taken over our nation where if someone doesn't agree with someone else's moral and professional stand, they are in a rush to sue. Blame the ones at fault, grasshopper and don't rush to judgement. And as far as me signing up after the Target story it's only a coincidence, I have recently discovered this website after being mentioned on a Republican blog. Chill out, I am not the enemy! And MERRY CHRISTMAS to you !
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