Today’s POV blog

XOXO, the clothing company, is focusing on a whole new type of window dressing — and undressing.

At a 38th and 5th Avenue in New York City, XOXO is paying models to dress and undress throughout the day and night. The crowd, mostly men, gather at the window to watch and make all sorts of efforts to get the attention of the women. The women have strict instructions to not interact with the crowd and are so good at ignoring the gawkers that some believe that the window must be one way.

The holiday theatre is getting mixed reviews. More than one passerby thought that that the show was better suited for the privacy of — well — a peep show, or at least the privacy of one’s home; but the wide variety and aged onlookers seem to find it — at the very least — entertaining.

At a time when every company’s marketing dollars must be very wisely spent, and creativity is the word of the day, it’s difficult to criticize a company that has found a way to draw a crowd.

It will be interesting to see if their sales numbers go up by more than just singles tossed at the girls.

According to Wikipedia, the term Black Friday refers to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day — the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season — and used by the media to refer to the beginning of the period in which brick-and-mortar (physical store) retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Upon opening — sometimes as early as midnight and staying open for 24 hours — retailers offer deals and loss leaders to attract shoppers. Sales during the Christmas season can represent 50% or more of a retailers’ annual sales.

The term Black Friday is believed to have originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s in reference to the heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. While most of the US saw the heavy traffic ending up at shopping malls, total sales for the day are reported at $10.66 billion; up only about 0.5% from the same day last year.*

Additionally and according to Shoppertrak.com:

• Year-Over-Year Retail Sales Rose 0.9 Percent for Week Ending November 21*
• Year-Over-Year Retail Sales Rose 0.7 Percent for Week Ending November 14, Week-Over-Week NRSE Sales Increase 7.5 Percent*

*Information provided by National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) and ShopperTrak RCT Corporation.

The term Cyber Monday, according to Wikipedia, refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday — a day that symbolizes a heavy traffic for online retailers. While Cyber Monday is not nearly as well known as Black Friday, there does seem to be a direct correlation between the popularity of the event and the increase in and shift of brick-and-mortar sales to online sales.

In a quick review of three key indicators — borrowing, spending, and working — the word for the holidays seems to be “proceed with caution.”

This week the US Federal Reserve unanimously agreed to keep near zero the cost of borrowing money for an extended period.

According to TradingEconomics.com, the United States unemployment rate stands at 9.80 percent. (The labor force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non-labor force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalized, and those serving in the military.)

In the national employment report compiled by ADP, non-farm private employment was reduced by another 203,000 from September to October 2009. However, October was the seventh consecutive month in which the decline in employment was less than in the previous month.

ADP projects that despite recent indications that overall economic activity is stabilizing, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to decline for at least a few more months.

In light of high unemployment rates, Gallup is reporting that Americans are planning to spend about $740 on gifts this year, down from $801 in 2008. 33% today, versus 35% a year ago, say they will spend less, while over half plan to spend about the same amount and 9% will spend more.

Though total sales are expected to be lower this holiday season, U.S. online sales are expected to rise eight percent and reach $44.7 billion. Big-box retailers such as Walmart and Amazon – those able to support discounts – are likely to see the best results.

In an article reported by FOXnew.com, a Michigan man has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was ordered to remove a Nativity (creche) scene from the median of a public road.

At Justia.us they report that this issue has twice been heard by the US Supreme court — with varying results.

In 1984, the Court found no violation of the establishment clause when a Nativity scene was displayed in a city’s Christmas display. Conversely in 1989, the inclusion of a creche in a holiday display was found to constitute a violation.

These cases were decided by determining whether the court majority believed that the overall effect of the display was to emphasize the religious nature of the symbols, or whether instead the emphasis was primarily secular.

The underlying issue is the interpretation of the establishment clause of the first amendment by typical American citizens. According to About.com, this clause has generally been interpreted in two ways:

1. To prohibit the establishment of a national religion by Congress. This is called the separationist or no-aid interpretation.
2. To prohibit the preference of one religion over another (or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose). This is called the accommodationist interpretation.

With the accommodationist intrerpretation, a challenge arises in that it does not prohibit the government’s entry into religious domain to make accommodations in order to achieve the purposes of the accompanying free-exercise clause. This clause is still being scoped by the Supreme Court so its definition is not yet clearly defined.

As cases come before the court, those cases help the justices to further define this clause. In one such ruling, the Supreme Court said, “Congress cannot pass a law for the government of the Territory which shall prohibit the free exercise of religion. The first amendment to the Constitution expressly forbids such legislation.” Of federal territorial laws, the Court said, “Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they may with practices.”

Despite the first amendment right that guarantees our freedom of religion, do you believe that displaying Christian icons at government offices during Christmas should be allowed?