Retailers tiptoe between Christmas, holidays

Two things stoked Erin Nash’s anger when she trolled the malls last year. First, most stores trumpeted their “holiday” sales. Second, every sales clerk robotically wished their customers “Happy holidays.” The word “Christmas,” Nash felt, had been discarded by the retailers like a wad of crumpled wrapping paper.

So the Fort Benning, Ga., resident took a yuletide stand.

“It became a test to me: I began wishing cashiers a ‘Merry Christmas’ to see if anyone would actually wish me a ‘Merry Christmas’ back,” Nash said.

None did.

In another city, at another mall, wherever Michelle Hesse encountered Christmas music or “Merry Christmas” greetings at certain stores, she privately cringed and vowed not to return.

“I just oppose people saying that their God is better or the only one. And I get that mostly at Christmas,” said Hesse, a stay-at-home mom from Lake Charles, La. “I have noticed (I get) looks when I do not reply with ‘Merry Christmas.’”

As American shoppers embark on their annual shopping binge — amid the Grinchiest economy in decades — a prickly marketing question splits American consumers and stores: “Christmas” or “holiday”? Like shoppers Nash and Hesse, various retailers hold conflicting theories on how much Christmas spirit should be injected into their advertising campaigns and their in-store environments.

Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and Target all recently brought back or bumped up their Christmas-friendly language. The word “Christmas” can be seen throughout the Web sites of all three retail chains, either in marketing themes or product descriptions: “Your one stop Christmas shop,” “Christmas ribbons” and “Christmas décor.”

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Banana Republic, by contrast, is using a “Most wanted for holiday” sales pitch, and if cyber-shoppers type “Christmas” into the retailer’s online search box, they get “0 results.” Sister company Old Navy is employing a “Home for the holidays” message. A similar “Christmas” search of Old Navy’s online merchandise returns only one mention: “Christmas tree sleep sets for baby.”

And then there’s Best Buy, which has tried to find a gentle compromise between the two seasonal poles. Two years ago, Best Buy’s advertising excluded any reference to Christmas, leading spokeswoman Dawn Bryant to explain: “There are several holidays throughout that time period, and we certainly need to be respectful of all.” Now the electronics chain is mixing a “Happier Holidays” logo with its “Merry Christmas” gift cards and has filmed TV ads in which its employees talk about “Christmas.”

“As far as balance, it’s hard to do,” Bryant acknowledged. “We test our advertising, both with our employees and our customers — and not just the advertising that people see on TV, but also the slogans, the themes, the visuals, the artwork, the whole marketing package.

“We do revisit this every year: Did it feel right? Were our customers happy? Were the employees satisfied calling out one holiday vs. another, or Christmas specifically?” Bryant said. “It’s definitely an art, not a science.”

At the Gap Inc., which includes brand names Banana Republic and Old Navy, the choice between “Christmas” and “holiday” in marketing language is driven by diversity.

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