MINNEAPOLIS – The familiar holiday image of Salvation Army volunteers ringing bells outside the stores of Target Corp. will be missing this year as the company stops making an exception to its policy of no solicitation.

Some other corporations also have felt more pressure to allow solicitations by churches, Scout groups, labor unions and other nonprofits, said Annette Bauer, a Salvation Army spokeswoman in the Twin Cities.

“A fear of ours is that it will become more and more difficult to get corporate approval to be physically on their premises,” Bauer said. “Then the tradition of the kettle will fall by the wayside.”

Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter said Monday that with more and more requests from other nonprofit groups, “it’s becoming increasingly difficult to have an exception to our policy, so we decided we would have no exceptions,” Brookter said. “This year we just said it’s time to… make our solicitation policy consistent.”

She said the company notified the Salvation Army of the change in January.

The Target store on Miller Trunk Highway accounts for about 10 percent, or $16,000, of the local bell-ringing goal, the Duluth Salvation Army’s Maj. John Mallett said Tuesday.

Mallett said the decision has been under discussion for several months now. The Salvation Army is disappointed but understand Target’s concerns, he said.

“We’re just grateful that we’ve been able to be there all this time, and we’re working with them so that, hopefully, they will support us in another way,” Mallett said.

He said the organization also is looking to add sites or involve other people in the community. Mallett noted that it didn’t have enough bell ringers last holiday season to staff the 17 sites it has.

Major Rosemary Matson, who heads the Salvation Army’s Superior office, said they’ve been told it’s not a done deal yet. Target has a store on Tower Avenue in Superior.

“Target may let us ring,” Matson said. “We always have a chance. It’s not Christmas yet.”

She added that Target has been nothing but good to the Salvation Army over the years.

Twin Cities Salvation Army officials also held out hope Monday that the decision might be reversed with talks between the charity and the company. However, Brookter said that conversations three weeks ago were merely about the charity’s notifying its local organizations, and she does not foresee a change.

In the Twin Cities area, bell ringers at 43 Target locations raised more than $750,000 last year out of total bell-ringing income of more than $2 million. With other fund-raising methods, the charity’s annual drive raised a total of $6.3 million.