This holiday season, a significant cultural and commercial shift is underway as a group of America’s largest retail chains makes a noticeable change in its approach to seasonal greetings. Moving away from the once-ubiquitous, catch-all “Happy Holidays,” these giants are returning to the classic, unmistakable greeting: “Merry Christmas.”
This strategic pivot is far from accidental. Ten major, national retailers—including Hobby Lobby, Belk, Nordstrom, Home Depot, Walmart, Macy’s, JCPenney, Bass Pro Shops, Lowe’s, and Toys “R” Us—are weaving “Merry Christmas” back into their advertisements, store décor, employee greetings, and online messaging. These brands, national leaders in the retail space, are collectively signaling that Christmas-specific language is not only welcome but is once again central to the December shopping experience.
Why the Strategic Shift? The Power of Nostalgia
For years, companies leaned heavily on the more generalized “Happy Holidays” as a mechanism to stay broad, safe, and maximally inclusive, ensuring they covered every possible winter celebration without committing to any single one. However, in pursuing this neutrality, retailers believe something critical was lost: the warmth, nostalgia, and powerful familiarity that traditionally defined the December shopping atmosphere.
Retailers are expert students of consumer emotion, recognizing that nostalgia sells and tradition sells. Christmas, both culturally and commercially, carries a unique weight and deep emotional resonance that a generic greeting simply cannot match. This time, instead of subtly tiptoeing around the issue, these big brands are wholeheartedly embracing the season outright.
A Coordinated Cultural Moment
According to reports, this widespread change is not a series of isolated actions; it is described as a “collective effort”—a shared acknowledgment across the retail sector that consumers are craving something more recognizable, more grounded, and more overtly festive.
For shoppers who grew up hearing “Merry Christmas” at every checkout counter, this move feels like a comforting return to form. While those who prefer broader greetings retain the option to use them, the retailers themselves are clearly choosing to highlight the tradition most intrinsically tied to their busiest and most profitable time of year.
What’s Changing Inside the Stores
The renewed Christmas focus is already becoming easy to spot in physical and digital retail spaces:
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Décor: Store environments are returning to classic, iconic holiday imagery centered on reds, greens, and golds.
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Advertisements: Marketing materials and commercials are using more direct Christmas language.
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Employee Greetings: Store associates are being actively encouraged to greet customers with “Merry Christmas.”
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Music: In-store playlists are leaning heavily on traditional Christmas songs and carols.
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Digital Presence: Websites, promotional emails, and social media platforms are leading their designs and promotions with explicit Christmas-themed banners.
The intention behind these changes is to center Christmas as the main thematic engine of the season, a role it traditionally held, without attempting to erase or exclude other winter holidays.
The Business Case for Sentiment
Retailers carefully study consumer behavior, understanding that December sales are powerfully driven by sentiment: memories, emotion, and the feeling of being part of something larger than a simple shopping trip. In a crowded marketplace, a clear, evocative theme is often far more powerful than a neutral one. By embracing a singular, established tradition, these brands hope to achieve a clarity that helps them stand out.
If customers respond positively—both emotionally and financially—to this return to tradition, experts expect more brands to follow this lead in the coming years.
The message from these ten chains is unmistakable: They are actively working to make the holidays feel like the holidays again. They are moving away from corporate winter ambiguity and watered-down messaging, opting instead for a return to a greeting that helped shape decades of December shopping. The ultimate success of this shift will be decided by consumers, one “Merry Christmas” at a time.
