You knew it was only a matter of time.
First came the pre-dawn Black Friday deals with human lines huddled in the cold November air, awaiting deals on cheap televisions and Blu-ray players. Next, retailers brought us Thanksgiving midnight sales for those who couldn’t wait an extra six hours to get their deal on.
But, is this the year that retailers finally cross the line? A slew of the nation’s best known retailers have announced that they will actually open their doors on Thanksgiving day, among them – Best Buy, J.C. Penny, Kohl’s, Target, and Wal-Mart.
And while this may be great news for shoppers, it’s a different story for the thousands of employees who must sacrifice precious family time to cater to crowds looking for cheap merchandise.
Until recently, Thanksgiving was one of the few days that retail workers were guaranteed off. Most egregious of the holiday scrooges is Kmart which plans to open at 6 am on Thanksgiving morning and will remain open for 41 hours straight.
The new strategy has created a consumer backlash. Talk radio host Matt Walsh vocalized much of the growing resentment, claiming that if you shop on Thanksgiving, you are part of the problem.
“How appropriate, then, that a holiday created by our ancestors as an occasion to give thanks for what they had, now morphs into a frenzied consumerist ritual where we descend upon shopping malls to accumulate more things we don’t need,” Walsh argued in a recent blog post.
Others have taken to social media to express their frustration over the encroachment of consumerism on the holiday. Patricia Stumpff, dismayed by Target’s Thanksgiving opening, created a petition on change.org which has received nearly 100,000 signatures. “I believe that the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted for us to take some time out of our often too busy lives to recognize, celebrate and be thankful for all the good things we have in this country,” Ms. Stumpff explained.
Likewise, some retailers have refused to join the trend, citing the importance of family time for their employees. “Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season, and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families,” explained Costco VP Paul Latham in an email to the Huffington Post.
But with shoppers increasingly eager for holiday deals, the practice of Thanksgiving day sales may become commonplace. According to a National Retail Foundation survey, nearly 33 million people plan to shop this Thanksgiving. And with these types of numbers retailers are quick to defend their practices.
“The key to Best Buy’s transformation is its singular focus on customer service, including giving consumers the opportunity to shop when and where they want,” the company explained in a press release.
In a conference call, Duncan Mac Naughton, an executive vice president for Walmart went so far as to say that, “Walmart associates are really excited to work that day.”
Maybe, but somehow I think employees would rather spend the day with family and friends than spending it dealing with impatient customers trying to grab a deal.
BMWK, what do you think? Is it right for retailers to open their doors on Thanksgiving day? Will you be joining the Thanksgiving day crowds?