Retailers are becoming so greedy they can’t wait for Black Friday (an abomination to begin with), now they’re advertising Black Friday sales a whole week ahead of time in order to get people to come through the doors and empty their pockets!
Several stores here have inserted circulars in the local newspaper saying they’re holding “Beat the Rush” sales. Many stores are advertising that they will even be open Thanksgiving Day by five or 6 p.m. so we can start shopping early. So, if you work at a retail store, gulp your meal and get to work. What a crock! Is this what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about? I, at least, think not.
The local mall even reportedly was set to fine a Mac Store there for deciding to close on Thanksgiving and give its employees the day off. According to The Olympian, “Capital Mall will open at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving and remain open until 10 p.m. Friday, or 28 hours for that first stretch of holiday shopping.” Fortunately, in an act of un-characteristic kindness, the mall owners decided not to fine the Mac Store. The store manager said he reluctantly opened his store doors on Thanksgiving last year, but “enough is enough.”
Right on buddy.
I worked at a Barnes & Noble years ago and the store stayed open on Easter. On Easter! Boy was I ticked off. Worse, the store was swamped that day by shoppers who obviously thought they had nothing better to do at home.
I don’t know about you, but I am dismayed at all the stores – especially grocery stores – that stay open 24 hours a day now and especially on holidays. WHY? I realize it’s convenient when you need a carton of milk or a loaf of bread, but can’t you think ahead a little? Kathleen and I learned about thinking ahead a few years ago when we lived out in the country nowhere near shopping and quickly learned we couldn’t easily drive to the store. Thinking ahead and making do with what we had on hand was a good lesson to learn – especially when we got snowed in for a few days.
I’m pretty sure I read somewhere recently that somebody is advocating that we refuse to shop on Black Friday. It’s being called a “Black Friday” backlash by the news media. The thing is, I personally don’t have a problem with Black Friday itself. I’m sure as heck not going to get up at oh-dark-thirty to buy something I probably don’t need. But I confess I like to go shopping on Black Friday later in the day and just enjoy watching people. I was in line at a store one time and these two teenage girls were admiring some ear rings while we all waited to get to a cashier. I had fun telling those girls they should buy the earrings and we all had a good laugh.
But! Retailers should stop trying to jump the gun, especially on Thanksgiving. They need to be kinder to their employees. It’s like I tell Sam when he’s jumping around barking for a treat I’m about to give him: “Just wait a dang minute.”
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