Retailers taking advantage of Veterans Day
November 12th, 2009
Is it right for retailers to take advantage of Veterans Day without offering anything to veterans? They should at least get the punctuation right.
Certainly nothing is sacred when it comes to the dog-eat-dog world of business, particularly in the retail business. Any possible opportunity to increase sales is guaranteed to be exploited. Some events however should be above this and none more so than Veterans Day.
In the week leading up to the holiday many retailers advertise their ‘Veterans Day Sale’. We all know the meaning of the holiday and how important it is to ensure our nation’s heroes are honored.
Some retailers honor veterans by offering special discounts that only that elite group of people can receive and this is an extraordinary measure for them to take and it is appreciated. Applebee’s, Golden Corral, Lowe’s, Home Depot and some others are among this group that thanks veterans for their service by offering discounts or free meals in the case of the restaurants.
But what about another group of retailers, those that attempt to capitalize on the holiday and veterans without offering anything in return? Is it right for them to take this holiday and use it solely to increase their sales while not so much as offering a discount to those whom the holiday honors?
Many retailers do this but it has long been a bone of contention with me and veterans groups. Here in the north metro area, one major retailer is a habitual offender – American Furniture Warehouse. Every year in the week leading up to Veterans Day they run ads touting their sale. The ad always includes a picture of owner Jake Jabs and his brothers in their uniforms from when they were in the service.
Certainly Mr. Jabs’ service and that of his brothers should be commended – as should that of all veterans. Further, his good works in the community are well known, particularly with Easter Seals and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
However, as a veteran himself, Mr. Jabs should be sensitive to capitalizing on his service and that of other veterans. If he is going to offer a Veterans Day Sale, he should offer something to veterans. To my knowledge, he has not made veterans causes a priority. One local veterans organization tried desperately to get American Furniture Warehouse to sponsor a major event that drew tens of thousands of people last year. Despite the endorsement of the Thornton store manager, they received nothing but the run-around in trying to get Mr. Jabs’ assistance.
We use one store here as an example but they are not the only offender – there are many out there. Here is a message to them: At least give something back to those who you seek to take advantage of and capitalize on.
And one last note for everyone, especially retailers that use the holiday in their ads – it is called Veterans Day. Not Veteran’s Day and not Veterans’ Day. An apostrophe denotes possession and the day does not ‘belong’ to veterans. It is a day to honor veterans. At least get that much right.
Related:
Hi Tony,
I am the Advertising/PR Director for American Furniture Warehouse. Your blog came to my attention and I believe it necessitates a quick and speedy reaction. I am sorry that you believe that we utilize the campaign to capitalize solely for business gain. We certainly do not. Jake is very proud of his service, and that carries over in several aspects that go far beyond our retail stores.
This year (as well as the past several years) we were the presenting sponsor of the Veterans Day Parade in Denver (on 11/7) – we provide the monetary support so that the parade , a staple and flagship event for Colorado, will continue this year and for years to come. I am sure if you follow-up with them, you will find out how important our involvement is in keeping this central celebratory event going in Colorado.
Furthermore, Jake is very heavily involved in numerous organizations that support and help veterans, current service men and women, and their families. A primary example is of his dedication to the non-profit, T.A.P.S. – Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, which offers support for the families of those lost in action.
These are just a couple of examples of what Jake does for the Veteran and service men and women of Colorado. There are many others that I would be happy to elaborate further on if you would like.
So when you say we offer nothing in return, that is simply not true. AFW as a company does many things to support this special and sacred community of men and women. The reason we do not offer specific discounts is due to a long-term policy of Jake’s: everyone deserves the same great prices on furniture. And he is faithful to that concept and has never wavered in our 34 years in business.
Please feel free to reach out and contact me if you have any additional concerns, questions, or comments. However, we would greatly appreciate if you would understand our position and appreciate our commitment to Colorado and this very valuable and appreciated community of individuals.
Thank you,
Krista Prescott
American Furniture Warehouse – Ad/PR
kprescott@afwonline.com
Krista,
Thank you for taking the time to reply – it is much appreciated.
I fully acknowledge Mr. Jabs’ good works in the community and said so in the story. I also commended him for his military service.
I do concede that my statement, “To my knowledge, he has not made veterans causes a priority,” is incorrect as you pointed out and I do apologize. The story will be updated to reflect that.
However, there is nothing on AFW’s ‘Corporate Giving’ page that indicates veterans causes have been a recipient of Mr. Jabs’ generosity. Further, the guidelines for applying for a grant put forth on that page pretty much rule out most veteran-related causes and likely would discourage any from applying. As I stated, I know of one veterans group and other community organizations that have struggled with not just getting funding from AFW – they have had difficulty even getting a response.
While I used AFW as an example, in retrospect it did perhaps come across as ‘ganging up’ on AFW and that was not the intent. As I say in the story, “We use one store here as an example but they are not the only offender – there are many out there. “
My comments surround solely Veterans Day and its use as a sales pitch while not directly offering something to veterans. As you called them, they are a “special and sacred community of men and women” and I think they are worthy of being the one exception to the pricing policy. They are after all the reason there is a Veterans Day to begin with.
Again, I appreciate your reply and clarifying some of the points made. Please feel free to post further comments or use the ‘Contact’ link at the top of the page to contact me privately.
Tony
Interesting story and an interesting reply. I certainly can see the point of the original story as veterans are somewhat of a ‘sacred group’. Kind of seems wrong to tout your service and ‘Veterans Day’ but not offer anything to those who you are capitalizing on. Mr. Jabs’ own service and other community works may allow him some leeway but I am not so sure.
I don’t really think there is anything wrong with leveraging the holiday or the fact someone is a veteran for gain. But to deny is a bit odd – why else would you use it? The only reason to is for gain so don’t deny it.
Tony, Thank you for your service. Re: Jake Jabs. First of all let me me tell you I am co-event director for an event we do for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) for the families of the fallen soldiers. Five years ago when we were asked to do this, not many were aware of TAPS. Jake stepped up as our title sponsor, not seeking publicity but providing it via TV newspaper etc and he has continued to be a sponsor the last four years. The event has now donated over $800,000 to TAPS. Here is the rub….we probably never gave Jake and American Furniture the praise or publicity they deserve but did not seek.
I thank you for bringing that to our attention and we will do our best to remedy that in the future. I would like to mention also just a few months ago a TAPS family was in the store and unknown to me, Jake provided them with a gift of several hundred dollars for some new furniture….no fan fare, no publicity…it was a gift from the heart. Over the past 20 years or so I’ve known Jake to do this sort of thing very quietly so many times. You’re probably aware that Jake not only gives $ he’s helped with publicity, signage auction items etc. for many charities . Not only that he donates his time and talent as an autioneer , musician and entertainer. I couldn’t begin to tell you how much money etc. I have personally watched Jake give without any publicity and not seeking any…..it’s amazing. The Veterans Day Sale is all part of that process …..an opportunity to honor veterans and help those in need whether it be TAPS, Wounded Warriors or those he has anonymously helped and will continue to. We’ll do a better job at letting the public know how much Jake does for the veterans (if he allows it)Thank you.
Bo,
Thanks for the response. I opened a bit of a can of worms here! Haha.
I do appreciate your pointing out the good works of Jake Jabs regarding TAPS – that is important knowledge and certainly a worthy cause.
Please see my lengthy comment below for additional commentary on the issue at hand.
Tony
Tony,
I am the Commander of VFW Post 1, the very first VFW Post in the US which is located right here in Denver – http://www.vfwpost1.org. On behalf of the officers, members and auxiliary of Post 1, I have to say you are completely off base in your criticism of Mr. Jabs and American Furniture Warehouse.
For the past eight years, Mr. Jabs and AFW have supported us every Veterans Day by sponsoring our Annual Veterans Celebration and Fireworks at Union Station. He has been one of the few, steadfast sponsors of this event and without his participation, this even would never take place, let alone result in a sizeable donation to Post 1 for our veterans outreach activities.
As Mayor Hickenlooper noted on Saturday night, when he first got involved 5 years ago, there were 40 people in the parking lot. Last Saturday, we had well over 1,000 as we paid respect to veterans, their families and mourned our losses over the past year. Through thick and thin, Mr. Jabs has been supportive of the VFW and this event – no matter what the attendance. Your criticism is off base in this regard.
While it may be that one VSO felt slighted, I would not expect AFW or any sponsor of an event to participate in every request they receive. We regularly have different sponsors for our event (though Mr. Jabs has been constant) and that’s the nature of the beast.
I would also add the 26 years ago, Mr. Jabs was presented with the VFW Citizenship Award by VFW Post 1 for his contributions to veterans and their causes. This is the same award presented to Jack Sweigart, Helen Bonfils and Rick Crandall as supporters of veterans.
I hope you reconsider your attack on Mr. Jabs as we at Post 1 are certainly familiar with his support of veterans, even if you are not.
Feel free to contact me or any of the officers of Post 1 should you wish to discuss this further.
Sincerely,
Izzy Abbass
Commander
John S. Stewart VFW Post 1
“The First Post”
Comrade Commander,
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I am going to post a lengthy comment at the bottom but also wanted to respond to some of your points directly:
Certainly I appreciate your experience with Mr. Jabs and acknowledge that has been a positive for the Veterans Day Parade. It would appear you missed it but in my comment to Krista I acknowledged that the posting probably came across as a jab at Mr. Jabs more than what was intended. You may wish to scroll up and read that. Further, as I discuss below, it is not the experience of one VSO but of other small community organizations in which his stores do business.
Again, the question at hand was never really about AFW or Mr. Jabs although that is what the comments left afterwards have turned it into. It was not an ‘attack’ on him as you say it was – I acknowledged his service and his good works in the community. The question at hand and the topic of the story was about businesses seeking to profit from veterans. That is all.
Tony
Amusing how an article like this can generate such a response, many of which are off-base. Tony corrected the one error he made and admitted to it and yet the attack dogs come in anyway. None address the real question that was raised as to whether or not offering a sale on Veterans Day without providing something to veterans was right.
If I understand this last post correctly, I’m an attack dog yet Tony is not for stating the following in bold: Here is a message to them: At least give something back to those who you seek to take advantage of and capitalize on.
Interesting point of view Proud Vet.
Aside from the fact that had he not made money, he’d not be in the position to give money, he has lived up to what Tony gave as his message. Further, why wouldn’t Tony call out those corporate sponsors of the St. Patricks Day Parade – which brings close to 100,000 downtown yet we have a hard time getting 10,000 down to the Veterans Day Parade. At least Mr. Jabs is doing something for Veterans so your last statement there is incorrect as well.
I will post this long response to the debate and hopefully that will clarify things. The comments for this story will be shut down after a few hours as things are getting a bit out of hand. It does little good to have an intra-veteran battle going on.
All involved have the same central desire – to ensure veterans are properly honored. Any further inquires about the story can come to me direct by utilizing the ‘Contact’ link at the top of the page.
The intent of the story was meant to be thought-provoking and centered on a topic – not a single man. The question posed was whether or not it is right / fair for retailers to capitalize on the Veterans Day holiday as a means to increase sales.
To quote, the question in the story was – “Is it right for them to take this holiday and use it solely to increase their sales while not so much as offering a discount to those whom the holiday honors?” That is all, nothing more. Of all the comments taking the original story to task, not one answers that question.
Obviously some readers have chosen to read more into it than that and so be it. Further, AFW has chosen to put out a ‘call to arms’ to rush to its defense. I admitted to the error in the story and conceded in my comment to Krista saying that “in retrospect it did perhaps come across as ‘ganging up’ on AFW and that was not the intent.” That however apparently wasn’t enough.
So be it – that is absolutely fair in a public forum and that is what this site is. It is written primarily for my own purposed but also to further debate on issues that I care about. Debate is what became of it – in spades.
In the original story I acknowledged Mr. Jabs’ military service as well as the good deeds he does in the community. He certainly gives to some very large and visible groups, including some veteran-related causes. I acknowledged that in my reply to Krista.
However, I will stand by my belief that for small, simple community organizations, getting access to AFW and Mr. Jabs is not an easy task. I cited one example, there are others. Is he / AFW generous in giving to larger charities like TAPS, Easter Seals, etc? Absolutely. However, within the communities in which the stores are located, AFW is not perceived particularly positively among the small, community charitable groups. Those groups arguably have the ability to do more ‘on the ground good’ than any big charity.
I cited in my response to Krista AFW’s own ‘Corporate Giving’ page that gives no indication of veteran-related involvement. Further, using the guidelines listed on the page, it would indicate veterans groups need not apply.
Mr. Jabs and AFW should certainly be commended for their contributions to TAPS and the Veterans Day Parade. However, that involvement is little known. Whether that is by design or not I don’t know but that is a problem.
Doing a simple search on Google for ‘denver veterans day parade american furniture warehouse’ does not return any pages denoting his involvement. There is no acknowledgement anywhere, not even on the VFW Post # 1’s website or the post’s Facebook page. In looking at the TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) website, again, neither American Furniture Warehouse or Jake Jabs is listed on the charity’s ‘Supporters’ page.
I don’t think there can really be any complaints about not giving AFW its due when it is apparently not even acknowledged by those very groups that benefit from its generosity. I find that very interesting in and of itself. If AFW’s / Mr. Jabs’ contribution is that valuable, and it indeed appears it is, then it should be recognized proudly.
In closing, I state again that the point of the story was drawing attention to businesses that seek to profit from the Veterans Day holiday. Using the example of AFW may not have been the best example, but the question still stands.
Tony
Before I close out the comments on this story, I just want to say again that we all simply want the best for veterans. That can certainly be the unifying theme here. Thanks to all for the ‘spirited’ debate.