Maybe the Gap should stop pretending there’s no Christmas:
ByYesterday retail sale numbers came out for the month of November and Gap continued to see its problems get worse. Sales for November and the start of the holiday season declined 8%, with every division seeing a drop. As the Gap watches its competitor’s sales increase I have a crazy suggestion for the company, how about recognizing Christmas.
For several years now the Gap has implemented a policy that bans any holiday decorations from its stores. The holiday spirit is not alive and well in the Gap as it may as well be July. Only recently employees were even allowed to wish people a happy holiday and that was only after employees and customers complained.
Though now there allowed to wish you a happy holiday the company still doesn’t want anything resembling the holiday tainting their stores. I know a number of people, myself included, that refuse to patronize the store during the holidays because of their policy. Why should you spend your Christmas dollars in a store that is embarrassed to embrace it?
Maybe if the Gap stopped worrying about the few who find a Christmas tree offensive, traffic in their stores during the Holiday would pick up.
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5 Comments
December 1st, 2006 at 4:38 pm
As a Jew(although not strict), when I walk into stores and they only say Merry Christmas, I appreciate the holiday spirit and I do not find it offensive at all. However, I do find it kind of annoying in the manner of “Whatabout my holidays?”.
On one side, if the company believes that most of their customers will be of a particular religion then they are more than welcome to acknowledge that. Customers that do not follow that religion have the freedom to not shop at that store.
On the other side, a company might not want to acknowlege one religion because they do not want to disrespect another religion by leaving it out of their greeting.
My feeling is that if they have people that greet their customers or wish them a good day, they should adopt a policy of wishing “Happy Holidays”. That way, you do not leave a religion out of the greeting.
As for decorations, if they want religious decorations than maybe do a study on what religions are most likely to purchase gifts from their store for their respective holidays then decorate to their tastes.
In the end, I’m sure these giants companies such as GAP can hire a creative Interior Designer/Decorator that is creative enough to make the atmosphere festive without going religious.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Obviously we’re not talking about having a nativity scene in the middle of the store but to follow the patters of the big department stores like Federated, with their red bows and other holiday decorations, is in good taste when you want people to spend their Christmas money in your store.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:48 pm
It’s capitalism, the Gap will respond how the buyers respond. Simple as that.
Let’s face it, they don’t care about their political message, they are trying new marketing strategies to see what works. Companies are always prodding the consumer and testing the public to see what they will accept and what they won’t.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:51 pm
I don’t find saying Merry Xmas offensive at all, I’m just saying, it wouldn’t hurt to say Happy Holidays. It is just as pleasant and includes more people.
What you say is right in regards to they should do that if they expect the people to spend xmas money at their store. But what should they do for the people who they expect to spend their Channukah money at the store?
December 1st, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Don’t people have anything better to do (and I’m talking about both sides of this debate) than whine about whether or not a store is saying Merry Christmas?