BENTONVILLE, Ark. — WalMart's decision May 5 to yank three racy men's magazines from its shelves elicited applause from pro-decency groups. But some of those groups challenged the company to go further.

Wal-Mart said its decision was a response to letters, e-mails and phone calls from consumers dismayed by the prominent placement of Maxim, Stuff and FHM magazines in its newsstands and near checkout counters.

“Basically we carried them in response to customer demand,” Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams said. “But we had customers around the country who have been consistently telling us they were uncomfortable with them. In this case we had to balance the interest of two customer groups.”

He said the decision was driven by customer satisfaction. “Our products are the result of what customers want,” he said May 6. “When there are differences in opinion we want to make a value judgment and do the best we can.”

The company has 2,485 Wal-Mart stores and 456 Sam's Clubs in the United States, making it one of the country's largest retailers with a tremendous influence on tastes and culture.

Though pleased with the decision, some groups who follow moral issues in the media are guarded in their response.

“It is commendable that Wal-Mart has taken away these men's magazines. But they’ve got to think about a little bit more than just consumer satisfaction,” said Patrick McGrath, director of media relations for Morality in Media Inc., a law-focused national organization that deals with obscenity law and broadcast indecency law. “Otherwise, it will just be bouncing back and forth. They need to take a stand one way or the other.”

McGrath believes Wal-Mart's decision has not gone far enough.

“We just wish that they would have a look or at least have a similar policy about the over-sexualized women's magazines like Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Redbook, Marie Clare and also the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition,” he said.

"Our problem with the marketing of such magazines is the in-your-face factor, the inescapability factor, that they are marketed at the supermarket checkout stand and you have to go through the checkout stand in order to get out of the shop,” McGrath added.

Catholic Parents Online, an organization working with Catholic schools to ensure authentic teaching of the faith, was more generous in its applause for Wal-Mart, thanking the company for “helping us guard the innocence of our young and to uphold the dignity of every man and woman.”

“As Catholic parents we strive every day to teach our children and grandchildren our faith and morals, leading them by word and example,” said Colleen Perfect, president of the St. Paul, Minn., group.

But Dennis Publishing Co., which publishes Maxim and Stuff, charged that Wal-Mart's policy is inconsistent.

“We are dismayed at the double-standard Wal-Mart has set with magazines,” the company said in a statement. “We hope Wal-Mart will realize that the front covers and contents of Maxim and Stuff are no more provocative than those of other men's magazines such as GQ, Esquire, Details and Rolling Stone — and usually less provocative than the covers and contents of many women's magazines.”

Bill Johnson, president of the American Decency Association based in Freemont, Mich., which claims responsibility for organizing groups throughout the United States that have continually sent messages to Wal-Mart, said, “This ministry has been key in contacting and asking Wal-Mart to make a significant change in what they sell and disseminate, primarily the magazines at the checkout counter. As a result tens of thousands of people over the past year and a half have been in touch with Wal-Mart.”

Johnson said he thinks Wal-Mart has not gone far enough.

“We have a real sense that we've been thrown a bone,” he said. “I say that because they have left many magazines that are very concerning, for example, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and other magazines. We should never tolerate the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition with [its] ever-increasing display of eroticism. We have been in numerous Wal-Mart stores in the past where these magazines were on display front and center or at the checkout counter.”

“We could wish it were a decision based on a sense of morality or decency,” Johnson added. “But we do not believe that it was. We believe that they felt they would get a lot of press, as they have.”

Wal-Mart spokesman Williams said it's still early to gauge customer response to the decision.

“This all just came to light,” he said. “We are always removing products and adding products in our stores. We do it and do it quietly. We said Yes when we were asked to remove the magazines. It's early yet in the process. We hear from customers all the time in myriad ways.”

Aware that Wal-Mart makes its decisions based on consumer demand, Dennis Publishing hopes Wal-Mart will reconsider.

“Dennis Publishing has been doing business with Wal-Mart for a long time,” the company stated. “Our sales experience in Wal-Mart confirms Wall-Mart customers enjoy Maxim and Stuff. We hope that copies of the two biggest men's lifestyle magazines in America will be back in these stores soon.”

But Phyllis Plum, vice president of Catholic Parents Online, referring to a slogan used by Stuff, commented, “Printing what is considered a ‘no-holds-barred approach to delivering what interests men most,’ attacks godly love, joy and peace within the family unit, targets faithfulness and kindness, goodness and self-control.”

“Ultimately, every attack on the family is an attack on Christian principles,” she continued. “Without Christian principles, there is no protection, no rules, no walls, because there are ‘no-holds-barred’ for all.”

Mary Ann Sullivan writes from New Durham, New Hampshire.