Bentonville, Ark. – The holiday season may not yet have arrived, but Christmas is back at Wal-Mart.
After being vilified by critics last year for switching its holiday message from “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays,” the world’s largest retailer changed its mind again.
Wishing for a bigger holiday season after a sluggish fall, the chain said Thursday that 60 percent more of its merchandise will be labeled with “Christmas.” And customers will hear Christmas carols as they shop.
“We certainly got some feedback last year,” spokesman Nick Agarwal said. “We’re hoping this will be more in tune with what customers want.”
Wal-Mart is not alone. While Best Buy is sticking with “Happy Holidays,” other retailers such as Kohl’s and Walgreens are doing the same thing as Wal-Mart.
“They’re all trying to get the spirit back,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group. “Especially since their holiday schedules have been off to a slow start.”
Last year, activists lambasted Wal-Mart. Groups such as the American Family Association and the Liberty Counsel organized boycotts of stores with generic “holiday” campaigns. More than 700,000 supporters signed a petition asking Wal-Mart to use the word Christmas.
The reaction was strong again Thursday.
“Wal-Mart has seen the light,” said Mathew Staver, founder of Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel. “The American people are tired of having Christmas censored or secularized.”
Not so, said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. When Wal-Mart officials “cave into these demands, they are really making a statement that non-Christians should probably go elsewhere this holiday season,” he said.
Changing store policy to cater to Christmas-lovers is a risky calculation, said Keith Tudor, professor of marketing at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
Such a policy could repel people who celebrate other religions, he said. “Are they going to offend people or attract people for having the fortitude to come down on the side of the religious right?”
