Black Friday - Which Stores Are Christmas Friendly?

It's no secret...I love Christmas. I appreciate it when stores embrace "Merry Christmas."
According to the AFA (American Family Association), some corporations are excluding Christmas from their "holiday" advertising and promotions. They have ranked stores and companies according to their "Christmas Friendliness!" In case you're wondering how your local stores are positioning themselves, check out this handy information from AFA below.

Color Code:
For Christmas: Company uses the term "Christmas" on a regular basis, we consider that company Christmas-friendly.
Marginalizing: Company refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.
Against: Company may use "Christmas" sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it.

Companies FOR "Christmas": (updated 11-10-09)
Amazon.com
Bass Pro Shops
Bath & Body Works
Bed Bath & Beyond
Belk
Big Lots
Collective Brands
Costco
Dollar Tree
Family Dollar
Dollar General
Hallmark
Hobby Lobby
Home Depot
JCPenney
Kmart
Lowe's
Macy's
Meijer
Menard's
Michael's Stores
Neiman Marcus
Petsmart
Rite Aid
Sears
Super D Drug Stores
Target
Toys R Us
Walgreens
Wal-Mart/Sam's Club


Companies marginalizing "Christmas":
Best Buy
Hy-Vee Stores
Kohl's
QVC
Safeway


Companies against "Christmas":
Advance Auto Parts
Aldi
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million
Braum's Ice Cream
CVS Pharmacy
Dick's Sporting Goods
Gap Stores
Harris Teeter Stores
H.E.B. Stores
Home Shopping Network
Kroger
Limited Brands
McDonald's
Nordstrom
Office Depot
Olive Garden
Outback Steakhouse
Publix
Raio Shack
Staples
SUPERVALU
Victoria's Secret

Interesting!

In my opinion, the phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" is too weak. There is no Christmas without Christ! Happy shopping everyone, and Merry Christmas!

Posted by Krista Dunk, www.KBWomen.com

From Frustrated to Thankful

I don't know about you, but sometimes I struggle with daily "stuff." Being a person with a strong sense of purpose inside, I have to be honest about not enjoying some of the mundane tasks that need to be taken care of in my life. Things like laundry, having a dirty floor after every meal (I have young kids!!), changing light bulbs (yes, even this is irritating), wading through coats, shoes and backpacks, organizing our paper mess, dusting, deciding on meal menus, etc., etc.

Can you relate? Maybe you have other areas of your life that frustrate or stop your flow. Whatever the case may be, there is a refreshing perspective that we can adopt in these situations. Let me explain...

• When I'm sick of dirty dishes, I remember that some have no food today.
• When little shoes track dirt inside, I can feel happy that we have property to play on.
• When the alarm sounds too early, it's great to know I've woken up and have good things planned for the day.
• When the laundry baskets are full, I feel thankful to have had a closet full of clothes to keep us warm.
• When I'm stressed about guests coming over for a dinner party, I can be thankful for friends and family who love me enough to come over.
• When the mail comes and it's nothing but bills, I am thankful we have enough money to pay them.
• When it's raining outside (again), I remember how beautiful it makes Washington.
• When I get spam emails, I am thankful for technology that helps me work and connect with friends.
• When the kids behave badly, I am still thankful they are mine, knowing God feels the same way about me.

I could go on, and I'm sure you have many you could add too! It's really a small mindset shift, when we realize just how blessed we are. It's true that sometimes blessings feel like burdens, but throw the burdened feeling off. Let's ask the Lord to make our arms strong for our work, and our minds set on thankfulness.

May your hearts, families and homes be blessed and at peace. Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Krista Dunk, www.KBWomen.com

Business Wisdom & Business Quotes from SHINE

Hello Everyone!
It's time to share some fun pictures with you and some great information that we learned at the Las Vegas SHINE event (put on by Ali Brown) earlier this month.

Krista signing to Marlee Matlin, Barbara Corcoran, Tammy with friend Jen Lovelady

Krista with Anne McKevitt, Tammy & Krista with new friends Brittany & Star, Ali Brown

Pearls of business wisdom:

"Bring value. Under promise and over deliver." -Ali Brown

"Develop key relationships with non-competitors." -Ali Brown

"My best successes came on the heels of failures." -Barbara Corcoran

"The power of publicity is more important than advertising." -Barbara Corcoran

"Marketing is creating a relationship with your target market with communication." -James Roche

"Marketing is more important than mastery." -James Roche

"Successful people understand that you don't need to make things complicated." -Anne McKevitt

"We all start not knowing what to do." -Anne McKevitt

"You need to have a sense of humor." -Marlee Matlin

Enjoy!

Brought to you by www.KBWomen.com

Strength 2 Strength Conference Audio Pre-Order SALE!

Did you make it to KBWomen's Strength 2 Strength Conference on October 9th? It was a great day of community building, shopping, networking, eating, learning, and getting wisdom. We know that some of you wanted to make it, but were unable to. Three very special guest speakers joined us that day, including our keynote speaker Dondi Scumaci, CWAHM.com owner Jill Hart and Audrey Godwin, CPA. Each woman brought valuable information and insight on business skill topics, from a faith-based perspective.

FIND OUT MORE

Koinonia Business Women is making the conference speaker audio files available for purchase. They will be ready for either instant download or CD's by mail next Friday, Nov. 20th.

PRE-ORDER THEM NOW AT A DISCOUNT

Save some cash by ordering between now and Friday, November 20th. On November 21st, prices will reflect their regular retail prices of $30 full set and $12 individual audios. Package deals are available! Pre-orders also include special BONUS audios, including Krista Dunk's session on "Removing Labels," and Tammy Redmon's audio teaching on "Don't Let the Holidays Steal Your Joy."

Jill Hart's Session: "Secrets of Social Media"

Audrey Godwin's Session: "Money Attitudes, Ideas & Plans"

Dondi Scumaci's Keynote Session: "You Are Designed for Success!"

If you are interested in reading more about the speakers, visit our conference speaker bios page. To get more information about ordering the speaker audio files, visit our KBWomen products page HERE.

SHINE Entrepreneur's Event Re-Cap

Remember last month when we posted about a business conference we were going to attend in Las Vegas, called SHINE? The event was last week. From our point of view, it was a huge success and very worthwhile to attend!

Why? Several reasons:

• Networking with other entrepreneurial business women (and a few men) was great.
• We made new friends, contacts and interacted in various ways with some great people.
• Business skill building sessions helped us get clarity of vision to move forward with some projects and changes.
• Fun and famous guest speakers were there, including Marlee Matlin, Barbara Corcoran (from the TV show "Shark Tank"), Julie Clark (creator of the Baby Einstein product line), and a woman named Anne McKevitt from the UK (now living in Australia). The wealth of wisdom and experience that these women shared was amazing.
• The event itself was done with excellence, and everything ran smoothly.
• We had dedicated time to work on our businesses!
• We had fun!

Stay tuned for another post coming Monday with specific quotes and nuggets of wisdom from the event. Thank you Ali Brown for hosting this wonderful event!

Posted by Krista Dunk - www.KBWomen.com