"This holiday season, Wal-Mart isn't trumpeting big bargains only. It's also bringing "Christmas" back into its marketing, after several years of playing down the term." - Fox News Headline

Isn't it amazing that the use of the words "Merry Christmas" during Christmas would help sales? It's interesting to note that Wal-mart has conceided that after many years of trying to take Christmas out of the biggest shopping season of the year that they finally realize that the reason people shop, the reason 40% of their money is made between Thanksgiving and Christmas is... just that: IT'S CHRISTMAS.

I find it somewhat odd that Best Buy will not join the ranks of Kohls, Wal-Mart, Macy's and others this season. Best Buy's reasoning? "We are going to continue to use the term holiday because there are several holidays throughout that time period, and we certainly need to be respectful of all of them"

Does Best Buy understand that it's not the "several holidays" that generate the revenue for them this time of year? And if their motivation were simply to be respectful of all holidays, then why not say "Happy Holidays" all year long? I personally think that they are being disrespectful of Flag Day, Arbor Day, Martin Luther King Day... if their reasoning is applied, everyday should be "Happy Holiday."

On a personal note, retailers celebrate holidays because it's another reason to have a sale and make more money. I wonder how much of the holiday sales boost is driven by Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other holidays during the same period? I would venture to say that 99% of the increase in purchasing is from Christmas... So Merry Christmas, buy lots of stuff!