Why You May Want to Stop Shopping at Barnes & Noble, Dollar General and PetSmart Right Now

Millions are crouched over their computers today for Cyber Monday, eager to perhaps find the deals they missed on Black Friday.

For this online shopping “holiday,” the American Family Association (AFA, afa.net) hopes shoppers will choose from the “nice” stores on its 2017 “Naughty or Nice” list of retailers—and avoid those that act like Scrooge at Christmastime.

For its 10th annual list, AFA has taken the top national retailers and reviewed their websites, media advertising and in-store signage in an effort to help shoppers know which companies embrace Christmas and which water it down into a generic holiday.

“This 10th year for the ‘Naughty or Nice’ list is significant because we can witness the progress of many retailers over the years,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “A decade ago, some stores routinely used the word ‘holiday’ to remain ‘politically correct.’ But we know now that most Americans want to celebrate Christmas and expect to hear greetings of ‘Merry Christmas!’ in their favorite stores. It’s been gratifying to see the list become a success and know that some stores have taken this message to heart.”

For the 2017 list, more than 50 “Nice” retailers use the term “Christmas” on a regular basis and are considered “Christmas-friendly.” The “Nice” list includes retailers from Ace Hardware to Zappos.com—and everything in between. Eight retailers this year made the “Marginal” list, meaning these companies refer to Christmas infrequently or only in select advertising mediums. And the 18 retailers on the “Naughty” list may use “Christmas” sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as companies, do not recognize it. These include: Academy Sports + Outdoors, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Foot Locker, Gap, Inc., The Limited, Maurice’s, Nordstrom, Office Depot, Office Max, PetSmart, Staples, Stein Mart, Supervalu, UncommonGoods.com and Victoria’s Secret.

Nice