The holiday season is seen as a time for communities to come together, and many University of Memphis students will spend quality time with family and friends.
However, some Memphians said retail merchants and businesses have also had an increasing influence on the season in recent years.
Members of Overton Park's Seventh Day Adventist Church praised Christmas' spiritual roots but said the original meaning and intention have faded behind retail logos and Santa Claus impersonations.
Olivette Smith, a board member and Sabbath school teacher at OPSDAC, said Christmas has obviously become more commercialized and has left more people in debt throughout the years.
"As a Christian, it's a time to commemorate the birth of Jesus and for families to get together," she said. "It's also a time when retailers have a lot of sales."
Smith said that while her family tries to uphold tradition come Christmas time, several other people have dropped both the religious and communal value in this particular time of the year. She also said retail stores in the holiday season have become a haven for devious behavior.
"It's also a time for thieves," Smith said. "People get in debt and a lot of people are sad. They build people up and sometimes people end up spending money they don't have."
Willie Venter, the head elder at OPSDAC, said purchasing and spending become obsessions and humanism is no longer practiced.
"It's not about Christ, but commercialization," he said.
Professors and students said the holiday season is the best time for increased profit and plays a major role in any retailer's yearly income.
"Sometimes their whole financial performance relies on Christmas," said C.J. Tyus, an international business major.
Tyus said the holiday season can even sometimes make up half of a retailer's profit for an entire year.
Tonie Glasper, a manager at Office Depot, said Christmas time simply equals money.
"It means we're going to make a lot of profit," she said. "It's what we do to keep the customers from going down the street to Office Max."
Last year Best Buy, another major holiday season retailer, ended its fiscal year with a $705 million net earning, which was an increase from its $99 million net earning made in 2003, according to its annual fiscal report.
"Christmas is vitally important to a lot of retailers. It pays off the costs of their year," said John Gnusckle, a professor in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. "It brings a dramatic increase for consumer dollars."
Gnusckle said the holiday season's commercialization shows the changing times and a growth in business, which is not always negative.
"I don't think it's lost its meaning," he said. "People all over the world celebrate Christmas and it's still a special holiday."
