Find out who's censoring Christmas

Macy's Christmas decorations

Shoppers who want to find out which retailers are "censoring Christmas" can consult a list of the "good, the bad and the ugly" released by Focus on the Family Action, the political activist arm of the group founded by James Dobson.

The Colorado Springs-based organization commended Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters, JC Penney, L.L. Bean, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Sears and Wal-Mart, among others, for specifically referring to Christmas in promotions and advertising

Focus on the Family also lists "U-turn retailers" that have "provided token acknowledgment of Christmas after initially neglecting its mention."

"Such changes came only after various groups and consumers voiced their feedback."

Among those groups, the hardware retailer Lowe's is mentioned for labeling Christmas trees as "Family trees" in its "Holiday Catalog" but then promising to revisit marketing labels in response to an alert by the American Family Association.

Home Depot offered "artificial trees" but since has re-labeled them "Christmas Trees."

(Story continues below)

PetSmart added "the perfect gift for Christmas & the Holiday Season" to its marketing text in mid-November.

The Florida-based legal group Liberty Counsel previously reported PetSmart was heading for a second consecutive year of ignoring Christmas, advertising its "Holiday Central" prior to a Nov. 15 AFA alert.

The "ugly," retailers that went the most "out of the way" to replace "Christmas" with "Holiday" on their websites include K-mart, Nordstrom, The Gap, Circuit City and Eddie Bauer.

Some retailers that mention "Christmas" in some manner were cited, nevertheless, for having policies that prohibit charity bell ringers on their premises, including Target, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, Borders and Toys-R-Us

Focus on the Family says the information is consistent with an extensive assessment of Web and catalog marketing materials as of last Thursday but cautions that retailers may have made subsequent changes.

The group also says in some cases stores may be an independently operated franchise and local management might disagree with national corporate practices.

"Please thank managers and franchise operators who clearly do not censor Christmas and urge them to give their own feedback to their corporate headquarters," the group says.

The Good (Mentions "Christmas"):

• Amazon

• American Eagle Outfitters

• Bath and Body Works

• Bed, Bath and Beyond

• Big Lots

• Dillard's

• Hobby Lobby

• Home Goods

• JC Penney

• JoAnn Fabrics

• KB Toys

• Linen N' Things

• Lord & Taylor

• L.L. Bean

• Macy's

• Michaels

• Mrs. Field's Cookies

• Neiman Marcus

• Sam's Club

• Sears

• Wal-Mart

The Bad (Only token references)

• Ace Hardware [local managers may have varied practices]:

• Best Buy [no solicitations policy]

• Bloomingdale's

• Border's [no solicitations policy]

• The Gap

• Kohl's [no solicitations policy]

• Marshalls [web improvement]

• Staples

The Ugly (Censors Christmas):

• Banana Republic [repeat from 2006]

• Barnes & Noble

• Circuit City

• No solic

• Dick's Sporting Goods

• Disney Store

• Ebay

• Eddie Bauer [repeat]

• Lane Bryant [repeat]

• Nordstrom

• Old Navy [repeat]

• Petco

• Sports Authority

Mixed Reviews (For varied reasons)

• Discovery Channel Store [Web improvement]

• Best Buy [no-solicitation policy]

• Barnes & Noble [no-solicitation policy]

• Kmart

• Home Depot [no-solicitation policy,

• Land's End [Web still censors, catalog improvement]

• Lowe's [Promised improvements, no- solicitation policy]

• Office Max [Web improvement]

• PetSmart [Web improvement]

• Pier 1 [Significant homepage improvement]

• Target [no-solicitation policy]

• Toys-R-Us [no-solicitation policy]

• Walgreen's

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