This, to me, is something of a catch-22. Somewhere along the way, a company stayed open a little later, and, lo and behold, people came in and spent money. Other companies saw what that one was doing and that it worked, so they extended their hours. Soon enough, you had businesses that stayed open past 5pm, stayed open on Sundays and holidays, and stayed open all night. And people came and shopped and validated those companies' decisions to stay open during those times.
Mom (eeyore344 here) works at Walmart (no unions here, though.) There was a day an uncle came in on a holiday and made some comment like how it was a shame that it was a holiday and she was working her response to him was, "If it weren't for people like you who come in and shop on a holiday, companies like this wouldn't be open." Which is true. (But, then, if stores/businesses like that weren't open, we'd just have to stay home.) Mom gets next to no holidays off (she asked for Labor Day and got it, but she only asked for it because my DD was out of school and my school system was in session on Labor Day, the daycare that she goes to when I have to work was also closed, so somebody had to be off that day.)
Also, I had a friend once that had moved from a city out West to a relatively small (yet relatively progressive) town here in the South. He couldn't stand it because if you wanted to go do something in the city, there was always something open, 24-7. Most everything in the small town closed by 9, midnight at the latest. You couldn't explain that this set up was just how it was, and that it was NORMAL for the area.
I think, to an extent, I like the way that Walmart is doing the sale this year. Staggered...with the things I'm interested in at 8 tonight, which is still fairly reasonable of a time to be out. The big items that everyone would usually be fighting over at 5am are now going out at 10, with the guarantee that, if you are in the store during that first hour, you'll be able to get the item by Christmas at that price (three of those items, anyway...) Plus, many of the stores are already 24 hours and have been open on Thanksgiving for years. Just a shock for us this year that they made department managers (like Mom) work. She's been there for an hour and a half already, will get off at 8 tonight, then go back at 430 in the morning.
JCP has not been very caring for their associates sense the change.
). The company has had its ups and downs over the past two decades I've been there, but for the most part I've been treated fairly.
