The previous post titled “Poll Shows Most American For Christmas” reported that 80% of Americans either celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday or think it should be. The same Americans also think it Christmas should publicly honored at our public institutions and businesses. Given this level of support for celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday, I suspect most Americans would favor the efforts of the American Family Association’s to pressure retailers and other businesses into treating Christmas as … well as … the birthday humanity’s redeemer as celebrated by Christians.
That is why XCJ again posts the <a href=Naught and Nice list created by the American Family Association. This year, the list includes companies who are FOR Christmas, those Marginalizing Christmas, and those AGAINST Christmas. It is hoped readers who are for Christmas will not patronize business who are attempting to marginalize it or who are flatly against Christmas.
| Companies FOR Christmas | Marginalizing Companies | Companies AGAINST |
| Amazon.com Bass Pro Shops Bed Bath & Beyond Belk Best Buy Big Lots Books-A-Million Cabella’s Collective Brands Costco Dick’s Sporting Goods Dilliards Family Dollar Dollar General H.E.B. Stores Hallmark Harris Teeter Stores Hobby Lobby JC Penney JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts Stores Kmart Kohl’s Kroger Lowe’s Macy’s Meijer Menard’s Michael’s Stores Neiman Marcus Nordstrom Office Max Petsmart Pier One Imports Publix QVC Rite Aid Sears Scheels Sporting Goods Super D Drug Stores Target Toys R Us Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club |
Bath & Body Works Dollar Tree Hy-Vee Stores Old Navy Limited Brands Safeway Starbucks Walgreens Whole Foods |
Banana Republic Barnes & Noble CVS Pharmacy Foot Locker Gap Stores Hancock Fabrics NASCAR L.L. Bean Office Depot Radio Shack Staples SUPERVALU Victoria’s Secret |
Reviewing last year’s naughty and nice list, a number businesses have lost the spirit of Christmas while some others lost the spirit of the Grinch. For example, Kroger and Costco must have been visited by the spirit of Christmas because both are on the FOR Christmas list. Old Navy is a tough nut crack. Last year the Old Navy Corporation regarded religious connotations of the season as bad for business. This its retail stores are begrudgingly acknowledging Christmas exists, but the corporate retailer did move up from flat out against to marginalizing the Christian-oriented holiday. A few examples of retailers who acquired the secular bah-hum-bug spirit are Walgreen’s and Office Depot. Walgreen’s went from For to Marginal. This may have been the result of some problem faced during the past year or two. Not everyone handles economic recessions equally well either. The Christmas spirit among corporate leaders at Office Depot have been soured. This is reflected having become oppositional to Christmas as a non-secular holiday. Let’s hope bah-hum-bug soon changes to a merry Christmas perspective.
A positive development is the dwindling number of businesses oppositional to Christmas. The Examiner reported 80% of American retailers think being for Christmas is good for business. The National Federation of Retailers agrees. Because 91% of Americans celebrate his birth on Christmas, they believe being pro-Christmas will increase sales by about 2.3 percent.
At least the wise men from the East believed it was a good idea to give gifts to celebrate his birth. Hopefully, AFA’s efforts will inspire Americans and American businesses to advance the cause of the babe born in the manager on Christmas day.
Merry Christmas!