Local businesses are saying Napans don't mind "happy holidays."

With the recent news articles about complaints from consumers who are religious, demanding the return of "merry Christmas" in store windows, the Register looked around town and found a pretty even mix of the two holiday greetings.

Kate King, president/CEO of the Napa Chamber of Commerce, said that as far as she knows, there haven't been any complaints against any Napa businesses about the use of "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas."

"I can't speak for all of the businesses," King said, but "from our standpoint, we created hot sheets, that on the cover says 'feliz navidad, happy holidays, happy Hanukkah,' and all of the different ones we have. I think it's appropriate."

King said that she has seen a "trend of businesses saying 'happy holidays' so they don't offend anyone. It's an effort to be politically correct.

"It has become a consumer vs. advertiser, but the political correctness has backlashes and now some consumers are upset that some businesses are calling a Christmas tree a 'holiday tree.' The ones being affected by this are retailers. Employers have to be sensitive of all people's feelings."

One local retailer, who asked to remain anonymous, said "If I'm a retailer I'm going to want to entice my target customer to shop at my store, and if the group of people I want to target celebrates Christmas, then I'm going to cater to them."

Some Napans who are not religious and run businesses still recognize the holidays as "Christmas."

"I've never really had a religious standpoint on anything, but as far as I know that's a Christmas tree not a 'holiday tree,' said Tony Houser, pointing at the decorated tree inside his Bicycle Madness store. "The music I'm listening to is Christmas music and the decorations drawn on the windows are celebrating Christmas."

Houser said he doesn't see why anyone should get offended about saying merry Christmas. "You have to say it with a rude tone to offend people. If a customer where to tell me 'happy Hanukkah' I wouldn't get mad."

As a small business owner, Houser said, the use of "merry Christmas" instead of "happy holidays" isn't a big deal, while it can be a problem for bigger stores like Target and Wal-Mart. Those stores are serving a more diverse crowd.

Napa Premium Outlets stores are hosting a series of events that will celebrate the holiday season. General Manager Traci Gee said that "Santa is taking time out of his busy schedule to greet children and shoppers as he stroll's throughout the center."

Rachael Thompson, a manager at Mervyn's where they use "happy holidays," said that nobody has complained this year. The store uses the "happy holidays" wording to take away the religious aspect, but that if a person says to her "merry Christmas," then she will say the same. "I've heard more merry Christmas,' than 'happy holidays.'"

"It's sad that this is being overly thought out and that it's overly dissected," said Thompson. "It really doesn't have to be that way. It's interesting that this is happening."

Thompson, who used to work in management for the state of Colorado before coming to Napa four months ago, said that the stores in Colorado that change "merry Christmas" to "happy holidays" actually had backlashes. "People got offended, protested and demanded that the stores call it a Christmas celebration," she said.