Thanksgiving usually evokes memories of succulent turkey that tenderly melts in your mouth and golden brown cornbread that crumbles sweetly beneath your lips. It’s a time to overeat, catch up with loved ones, and spend a lazy afternoon watching some football.
Now it seems as if we’ll be adding waiting in line, throwing elbows, and fighting over cheap deals to the mix.
The holiday shopping season starts earlier than ever as several retailers have announced plans to open their doors on Thanksgiving. Walmart will open at 10pm, Toys-R-Us is going even further, letting crowds in at 9pm. Macy’s and Kohl’s meanwhile will turn on the lights at midnight.
And apparently they’re doing for our benefit.
According to Walmart chief merchandising officer Duncan MacNaughton:
“Our customers told us they would rather stay up late to shop than get up early, so we’re going to hold special events on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.”
But I’m sure Walmart’s 1.4 million employees would disagree. Many of them will be forced to leave the warmth and comfort of family and friends earlier on Thanksgiving day to prepare for the onslaught of evening shoppers.
I recently visited a smaller Chicago retail chain where they too proudly announced over the PA system that for the first time in their history, they would be open on Thanksgiving. The employee disgust was palpable as you could hear them grumbling amongst themselves.
Have we reached a point where corporate America has the power to force employees away from their families in order to serve bargain crazed shoppers?
Target employee Anthony Hardwick thinks so. He’s started a petition on Change.org to protest Target’s decision to open at midnight on Thanksgiving. The petition has received over 188,000 signatures so far.
But while employees have no choice but to participate in the Thanksgiving madness, the real question is, will the rest of us?
Will the lust for cheap deals destroy a holiday tradition? Will we retaliate against the big business intrusion on cherished family time, or will we prove retailers right?
If long lines do form at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, you can bet retailers will rush to beat the competition by opening earlier and earlier. Who knows, can an 8 a.m. Thanksgiving sale be that far away?
Perhaps “flash special in aisle 4” will become just as part of the American Thanksgiving tradition as pumpkin pie and football.
BMWK, what are your thoughts? Have retailers gone too far? Should we protect holiday family time from consumerism by avoiding these Thanksgiving day sales, or perhaps the sales provide a welcomed opportunity to find bargains in a tough economy?