If the bell ringers would just dress up as lesbian Wiccans with nose rings, I'm sure Target's diversity policy would kick in and allow them.
Then they're still on my banned list too.
Let's just get this out of the way:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/sallyann.asp
I used to do all my Christmas shopping at target. Can't tell you the last time I've been there.
Then I shall continue to avoid their property and doorways.
I wonder if legally they could stand at the driveway exits on the sidewalk to receive donations from drivers . . . would love it if they could. But, they'd not be likely to do so even if legal.
Hey Target, I still won't go into one of your stores and I pass gas in their general direction.
I haven't shopped at Target for several years since they banned the Salvation Army. Is far as I am concerned, I will never enter their store again.
I suspect most shoppers will be interested in the following rather than whether a bell ringer stands at the door way....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739386/posts
Wal-Mart and rival Target are brewing up a price war for toys, electronics and other things consumers may want for Christmas that could spell savings for shoppers, but profit woes for retailers in the critical holiday quarter.
This $1 million donation to Salvation Army by Target is great! Thank you Target!
I got this in my e-mail today. Thought that Freepers might be interested. I haven't found it on Snoops yet. So use your own judgement on the truth or not.
Wasn't it last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring their bells in front of their stores?
Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote.
"Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event.
We received the following reply from the local TARGET management:
" Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education."
So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and
veterans in general, do not meet their donation criteria,
then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.
As a follow-up, I E-mailed the TARGET U.S. Corporate
Headquarters and their response was the same.
That's their national policy.
Then I looked into the company further.
They will not allow the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots' at any of their stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they would not allow families of employees who were called up for active duty to continue their insurance coverage while they were on military service. Then as I dig further, TARGET, is a French-owned corporation.
Now, I'm thinking again. If TARGET cannot support American
Veterans, then why should my family and I support their
stores by spending our hard earned American dollars!
And, have their profits sent to France .
Without the American Vets, where would France be today?
"They, most likely would be speaking German and trading in Deutsch Marks"
Sincerely,
Dick Forrey
Veterans Helping Veterans
I'm thankful to the Salvation Army for how well they took care of a relative in Gander Newfoundland on Sept 11-14 of 2001, and I always seek out their donation centers when I have something useable to get rid of, or seek out their kettles at Christmas time.
I don't need for them to be at Target or any other retailer but I can easily find them all over downtown at my old city, and presume they'll be all over the downtown of my new city. I don't expect Target to host them anymore than I expect an online retailer to have a donation line for Salvation Army on their website.
Frankly, I don't hold this decision against Target. Nowadays, everybody is getting into the bell ringing business. You have the Salvation Army, the VOA, the PBA and various local charities. All of these organizations realize how lucrative a spot in front of a high-volume big-box retailer can be. In order to make it work, Target would have had to limit access to just the Salvation Army. That simply was not going to happen. And if they tried, how many microseconds would pass before some busybody judge slapped them down and issued a restraining order because they were denying access to the Lesbian Wiccan Self-Help Society?
However, if they opened it up to all comers, you would be running the gantlet just to get into the store.
Target has been very successful, and their success has not been by accident. They are not going to let their store entrance during their most important season of the year be defined by somebody else, or a whole lot of Somebody Else's.
Target is a good community member. They give to our local schools, participate in toy drives and contribute supplies to worthy fundraising effoerts. Target has been totally vindicated of false claims that they do no not support military charity drives.
The Salvation Army is one of the most reputable charities serving the public. Other less worthy charities have tried to muscle in on the bell ringing. IMO, Target is protecting the SA and themselves against a Christmas deluge of grifters who would obstruct doorways, harass customers and cut into the spending and the giving.
Their website http://www.salvationarmyusa.org has an article about Target and the Salvation Army launching a 'Multi-Faceted Christmas Partnership.' The website also has a place where one can click to 'Donate Now.'
Sounds like a win-win.
It's a new world. Salvation Army does good work, but they'll need to start generating income a different way. What was at one time "quaint" is now in a modern world annoying.
Bell ringers have been a Christmas tradition as far back as I can remember. I have fond memories of being a little guy happily dropping a few coins into the bucket each year at my favorite time of the year. SA is also one of my favorite charities and I go out of my way each year to drop in a $20 or two and I have passed this on to my kids who now like to drop in change.
Target dropping SA seems very Grinch-like and now prevents us from performing a family Christmas tradition at their stores so we now shop at the places that have bell ringers.
Targets charity of choice is the United Way which is one of my least favorite charities ever. Target treats the UW so well thet UW reps even get their own parking spots at corporate HQ, but then they turn around and crap on the SA at Christmas time to their own detriment and bad publicity at their most important time of the year. Not smart. Bob Ulrich is paid like a professional athlete for this? Shareholders need to get involved.