Open on Thanksgiving Day

[luvmy3]

I refuse to start 'Black Friday' on Thanksgiving Day. (Think it's been nicknamed 'Grey Thursday'....seriously?) You won't see me step into the stores until Black Friday morning!

However, I am ok with restaurants/movie theaters, stuff of that sort open on major holidays. That's been going on for decades. Back on Christmas Day 97' or 98', I went to the movies to see Titanic with some cousins. There were 13 of us, and we were teens at the time. Needed a break from grandma's house after opening gifts! I think the adults were glad to get rid of us for a few hours!

But I refuse to support this new trend of early shopping....honor Thanksgiving Day and stay closed retail stores!

Honor Thanksgiving-close the retail stores! But keep the restaurants and movie theaters open because someone may need a break.
I don't even know what to say other than your logic is so *** backwards.

 

[luvmy3]

I try and try but can't see the difference between stores and other businesses such as theaters and restaurants being open. I guess that it's really just a matter of personal preference.

There is no difference, people just need to be outraged at something. They all sound like a bunch of whiny hypocrits when they start talking about how wrong it is for stores to be open, but its okay for restaurants, movies, hotels, theme parks etc to be open.

 

[allison443]

I refuse to start 'Black Friday' on Thanksgiving Day. (Think it's been nicknamed 'Grey Thursday'....seriously?) You won't see me step into the stores until Black Friday morning!

However, I am ok with restaurants/movie theaters, stuff of that sort open on major holidays. That's been going on for decades. Back on Christmas Day 97' or 98', I went to the movies to see Titanic with some cousins. There were 13 of us, and we were teens at the time. Needed a break from grandma's house after opening gifts! I think the adults were glad to get rid of us for a few hours!

But I refuse to support this new trend of early shopping....honor Thanksgiving Day and stay closed retail stores!

You understand this is not logical, right?

 

[pumba]

Maine still has the blue laws on the books...no store open that has more then 5000 sq feet I believe it is..
We just started having Sunday store openings maybe the last fifteen or twenty years...I cant remember..
we also can not hunt on Sunday...YES we are Mainers....hahaha

Have a good Holiday season everyone

 

[monarchsfan16]

There is no difference, people just need to be outraged at something. They all sound like a bunch of whiny hypocrits when they start talking about how wrong it is for stores to be open, but its okay for restaurants, movies, hotels, theme parks etc to be open.

Hotels should be open. Not everyone can stay with family when they travel to see them. And Thanksgiving is a family holiday. I get restaurants being open too. They're providing food. That's an essential service. I've never said theme parks should be open on Thanksgiving. 'Course in NH that one is pretty irrelevant, and my mother would all but kill me if I took a vacation on the holiday, so Disney isn't hasn't ever, and will never happen on Thanksgiving.

People don't need to shop on Thanksgiving. Period. If you hate your family, go take a walk, put a movie on, or heck, stay home. Play a board game. There's no reason to go buy a new TV on Thanksgiving.

 

[RitaE]

I guess I don't see why there has to be some justifiable reason for a store to be open beyond the fact that customers want it and stores want to provide it. We don't live in a country that dictates our personal lives to that extent.

 

[luvmy3]

Hotels should be open. Not everyone can stay with family when they travel to see them. And Thanksgiving is a family holiday. I get restaurants being open too. They're providing food. That's an essential service. I've never said theme parks should be open on Thanksgiving. 'Course in NH that one is pretty irrelevant, and my mother would all but kill me if I took a vacation on the holiday, so Disney isn't hasn't ever, and will never happen on Thanksgiving.

People don't need to shop on Thanksgiving. Period. If you hate your family, go take a walk, put a movie on, or heck, stay home. Play a board game. There's no reason to go buy a new TV on Thanksgiving.

Why the assumption that people hate their family and that is why they go shop? Why do you assume that everyone should stay home on the third Thursday in November because you yourself want to?
Sorry, not everyone in this country celebrates Thanksgiving, and not everyone feels the need to spend 24 hours with their family that day. And newsflash, that doesn't mean they hate them
You don't want to shop on Thanksgiving by all means don't, but please stop assuming your beliefs about the holiday are what everyone should feel. Spend your day how you want and stop whining about how others choose too.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Why the assumption that people hate their family and that is why they go shop? Why do you assume that everyone should stay home on the third Thursday in November because you yourself want to?
Sorry, not everyone in this country celebrates Thanksgiving, and not everyone feels the need to spend 24 hours with their family that day. And newsflash, that doesn't mean they hate them
You don't want to shop on Thanksgiving by all means don't, but please stop assuming your beliefs about the holiday are what everyone should feel. Spend your day how you want and stop whining about how others choose too.

Why the assumption that everyone that thinks Thanksgiving should remain a holiday is whining? I'm not whining (I no longer work retail). I'm stating my beliefs. This is a family holiday, an AMERICAN holiday. If it weren't for what Thanksgiving represents, we wouldn't have this nation as it is to live in, whether we are citizens or not. Stores were closed for years on Thanksgiving, and it's only because people have become too greedy to not shop on the holiday that stores have been opening on the holiday. I've seen Black Friday from the other side, and there is NO reason to force that on associates on a holiday they used to have off. Yes, hotels and restaurants are open, but you don't see fist fights happening there just because of a bargain.

As far as not celebrating the holiday, we won't be celebrating Christmas on Christmas this year. Does that mean I expect stores to open to entertain me? No. I will entertain myself for that holiday so that employees can be with their families.

 

[allison443]

I guess I don't see why there has to be some justifiable reason for a store to be open beyond the fact that customers want it and stores want to provide it. We don't live in a country that dictates our personal lives to that extent.

I agree. It's supply and demand, and apparently the demand is there.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I agree. It's supply and demand, and apparently the demand is there.

My impression is that the demand is to go shopping in the middle of the night. Why not have the "midnight madness" the night between Black Friday and Saturday? Then the shoppers who want to stay out all night are happy and the associates get to spend the holiday with their family.

 

[luvmy3]

I'm not whining (I no longer work retail). I'm stating my beliefs. This is a family holiday, an AMERICAN holiday. If it weren't for what Thanksgiving represents, we wouldn't have this nation as it is to live in, whether we are citizens or not. Stores were closed for years on Thanksgiving, and it's only because people have become too greedy to not shop on the holiday that stores have been opening on the holiday. I've seen Black Friday from the other side, and there is NO reason to force that on associates on a holiday they used to have off. Yes, hotels and restaurants are open, but you don't see fist fights happening there just because of a bargain.

As far as not celebrating the holiday, we won't be celebrating Christmas on Christmas this year. Does that mean I expect stores to open to entertain me? No. I will entertain myself for that holiday so that employees can be with their families.

Your beliefs sound alot like whining to me.
As far as what used to be, well that was then and this is now, and anyone going in to retail can accept that working holidays is a part of that, or they can look for another job where they won't be required to work on those days. Retail establishments are there to make money, being in retail I guess I would have assumed you would understand that. If consumers have no problem spending Thanksgiving at the mall instead of at home, then good for them for staying open that day.
And Thanksgiving has nothing to do with having the nation we have, you might want to brush up on your history

 

[allison443]

My impression is that the demand is to go shopping in the middle of the night. Why not have the "midnight madness" the night between Black Friday and Saturday? Then the shoppers who want to stay out all night are happy and the associates get to spend the holiday with their family.

Realistically though, isn't it often possible to spend the holiday with your family and still work on Thanksgiving? Growing up my mom often worked a shift on Thanksgiving and other holidays...if she got off at 3, we had dinner after that, if she went in at 3, we celebrated earlier. Same when my dds worked retail during school.
Wouldn't most families accomodate the working family member if it was that important to spend the holiday together?
I guess if you have to travel far away that would complicate things.
(Now someone will post how their relative had to work a 20 hour shift on Thanksgiving and blow my theory away...)

 

[monarchsfan16]

Your beliefs sound alot like whining to me.
As far as what used to be, well that was then and this is now, and anyone going in to retail can accept that working holidays is a part of that, or they can look for another job where they won't be required to work on those days. Retail establishments are there to make money, being in retail I guess I would have assumed you would understand that. If consumers have no problem spending Thanksgiving at the mall instead of at home, then good for them for staying open that day.
And Thanksgiving has nothing to do with having the nation we have, you might want to brush up on your history

Having been in retail BEFORE we went to Thanksgiving openings, stores made oodles of money when it was just Black Friday. I experienced the first midnight opening of the store last year, and being open an extra 5 hours really didn't help the store all that much. The mobs that used to come early in the morning came in the middle of the night (and it was true mob mentality), and then things fizzled out during the day. I get that stores are in business to make money and not to accommodate families. However, I will NEVER understand the mentality of shopping on a national holiday. At this point the stores have been forced to open in the middle of the night, because that's when shoppers are out. Why not open in the night between Black Friday and Saturday? Shoppers get their middle of the night fun(?) and associates get the holiday with their families. Makes a lot more sense.

And my explanation of Thanksgiving was a very general statement. Having grown up in NH, we've had that history hammered into our heads

 

[monarchsfan16]

Realistically though, isn't it often possible to spend the holiday with your family and still work on Thanksgiving? Growing up my mom often worked a shift on Thanksgiving and other holidays...if she got off at 3, we had dinner after that, if she went in at 3, we celebrated earlier. Same when my dds worked retail during school.
Wouldn't most families accomodate the working family member if it was that important to spend the holiday together?
I guess if you have to travel far away that would complicate things.
(Now someone will post how their relative had to work a 20 hour shift on Thanksgiving and blow my theory away...)

Depends on the circumstances. If you have to be at work at 8 pm, and you're not getting out until 8 am (pretty typical shift with some of these "midnight madness" stores) the next day, it's kind of challenging to have a holiday if you'd like to sleep before spending the night handling money and breaking up fights.
On the flip side, my stepdad works 6 am-2:30pm. Obviously, that kind of shift does make it easy to still celebrate a holiday.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I think the argument that stores have to do it is bosh and nonsense, personally.

BJ's Wholesale Clubs are ALL closed Thanksgiving Day, close at 6PM on Christmas Eve and are closed Christmas Day. They make a good profit and their stocks do well. It's all due to a President and CEO who stood before all of his workers and said that as long as he was in charge, NO ONE would work Thanksgiving or Christmas. (I was one of the workers at the time.)

It can happen in retail, it just takes people at the top who have moral fiber and character.

 

[disney1990]

I think the argument that stores have to do it is bosh and nonsense, personally.

BJ's Wholesale Clubs are ALL closed Thanksgiving Day, close at 6PM on Christmas Eve and are closed Christmas Day. They make a good profit and their stocks do well. It's all due to a President and CEO who stood before all of his workers and said that as long as he was in charge, NO ONE would work Thanksgiving or Christmas. (I was one of the workers at the time.)

It can happen in retail, it just takes people at the top who have moral fiber and character.

Like Chick-fil-A

 

[Feralpeg]

Having been in retail BEFORE we went to Thanksgiving openings, stores made oodles of money when it was just Black Friday. I experienced the first midnight opening of the store last year, and being open an extra 5 hours really didn't help the store all that much. The mobs that used to come early in the morning came in the middle of the night (and it was true mob mentality), and then things fizzled out during the day. I get that stores are in business to make money and not to accommodate families. However, I will NEVER understand the mentality of shopping on a national holiday. At this point the stores have been forced to open in the middle of the night, because that's when shoppers are out. Why not open in the night between Black Friday and Saturday? Shoppers get their middle of the night fun(?) and associates get the holiday with their families. Makes a lot more sense.

And my explanation of Thanksgiving was a very general statement. Having grown up in NH, we've had that history hammered into our heads

My daughter is working at Bealls this year as a seasonal employee. Her shift began at 4am Friday morning. I dropped her off at the store about 3:30am. The store was busy at that time. She said other employees told her they were slammed at midnight. She said the crowd dropped off a bit for a couple of hours early in the morning but picked up dramatically by 7am.

I went in to pick her up. She was supposed to get off at 12:30pm. The line for the cash registers was still wrapped around to the back of the store. I stayed there for awhile and realized that she was not going to get off. She ended up working until 2pm. She had worked ten hours with only one short break.

Today, she worked again. The other employees said they were busy until closing last night. Seems like very consistent business the entire day.

What amazed me is that people stood in line for an incredible time to buy something and save $5 or $10. I'm sure there were some bargains better than that, but not while I was watching. Certainly nothing I'd consider doing.

 

[NCDisneyMom]

No shopping last night but our family went to a movie. This isn't anything new either, we've been going to movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas night for decades.

It's kind of ironic to me that movie theatre employees have worked major holidays for so long without any of this fuss but as soon as Walmart tries it all heck breaks loose.

I have been saying the same thing for days. I worked at a movie theater in both High School and college (well over 25 years ago), and we were open on both holidays. And yes, I worked both. Even though i was still living at home, no fuss was make by me or my parents. It was what it was, and we adjusted our holiday accordingly. I don't understand why all of the fuss NOW, when other companies have been open on holidays for years.

And since this is a Disney board, how many Cast Members work Thanksgiving and/or Christmas so that others can enjoy a nice family vacation for their holiday????

 

[tvguy]

We have become a 24/7/365 society.
I worked graveyard shift (11 pm to 7 am) from 1980 to 2005. Almost nothing was open overnight in 1980, maybe Dennys. In those days 7-11 Stores were open.....shockingly....from 7 am to 11 pm.
By 2005 7-11 ws 24 hours, as were a lot of places. Just this week, Dutch Brothers, a coffee chain that has kiosks in shopping center parking lots....decided to experiement with being open 24 hours.
So New York City is no longer the only city that never sleeps.

 

[kaytieeldr]

At this point the stores have been forced to open in the middle of the night, because that's when shoppers are out. Why not open in the night between Black Friday and Saturday? Shoppers get their middle of the night fun(?) and associates get the holiday with their families. Makes a lot more sense.

Stores aren't forced to open; the decision-makers choose to open because people choose to wait in line for hours or days to get the best bargains. It's got nothing to do with the 'midnight madness' aspect of Black Friday, and everything to do with being one of tge few to get the best bargain.