Wal-Mart super centers CANNOT be open tomorrow here in MA

[Disney1fan2002]

They probably thought South Attleboro was part of Rhode Island and that's why they aren't making a stink.
Hmm I wonder if Whole Foods in Providence is open tomorrow.

No, because the K-Mart in Braintree was open last year on Thanksgiving.

It look like the K-Mart in Brockton is open tomorrow, so I guess K-Mart is open. I am so confude. Why does Wal-mart have to close, yet K-Mart can open?

I am all for businesses being open AND keeping the Blue Laws. It means they have to pay time and a half for Sunday and double time for Holidays. I know when I was single, I grabbed up those days. Mom always had a plate delivered to me.

 

[Crankyshank]

No, because the K-Mart in Braintree was open last year on Thanksgiving.

It look like the K-Mart in Brockton is open tomorrow, so I guess K-Mart is open. I am so confude. Why does Wal-mart have to close, yet K-Mart can open?

I am all for businesses being open AND keeping the Blue Laws. It means they have to pay time and a half for Sunday and double time for Holidays. I know when I was single, I grabbed up those days. Mom always had a plate delivered to me.

I was joking. The South Attleboro K-Mart is a mere couple of yards from the RI border - that's why I said that

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I think it is a good thing. We should go back to this - and I am not a rigid Christian or anything - just pro-family. People should be able to be home with their family. I mean what does it hurt to have maybe 2 days a year like this!? I really feel for retail and restaurant workers who have to work..anyone really, but some things like nurses, etc are necessary - store sales and meals out are not. When people talk about the family and traditions and values falling apart - I think this is a big part of it..putting emphasis on retail and business over two days spent at home with loved ones. So sad that Thanksgiving has become about big sales.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I think it is a good thing. We should go back to this - and I am not a rigid Christian or anything - just pro-family. People should be able to be home with their family. I mean what does it hurt to have maybe 2 days a year like this!? I really feel for retail and restaurant workers who have to work..anyone really, but some things like nurses, etc are necessary - store sales and meals out are not. When people talk about the family and traditions and values falling apart - I think this is a big part of it..putting emphasis on retail and business over two days spent at home with loved ones. So sad that Thanksgiving has become about big sales.

Well, dept. stores being open, yes, ridiculous! Nobody NEEDS anything that badly on Thanskgiving day. Food stores, I think should be open. At least for a few hours. Not having a specific food item for a big meal can ruin someone's Holiday.

 

[Cthia]

If I saw the sign correctly at the end of an aisle in BJ's Wholesale Club, they are open on Thanksgiving day also. Not sure how they are able to be open with the blue laws. I guess some of the companies are finding loop holes in the blue laws. I personally won't shop on Thanksgiving, that is a day for family.

 

[va32h]

Sorry, but I think these laws are just ridiculous. If I want to work on Thanksgiving Day, who is the government to tell me that I can't? I have willingly, happily worked many a Thanksgiving Day when I worked for a theater chain.

I do not make a fuss over Thanksgiving, and neither do lots of other people. It has nothing to do with not loving or appreciating our families. Maybe I happen to love and appreciate my family EVERY day, and don't need to set aside a special day to do it.

Retailers do what is profitable for them - no more, no less. If a retailer wishes to open up on Thanksgiving Day, it's because they have reason to believe they can make money that day - at least more than it will cost them to pay their employees. There isn't some secret plan to destroy the American family via depriving them of of a day off.

And what about every other country in the world? Are those countries "anti-family" because they don't have a Thanksgiving at all? Are families in other nations a sad, valueless, amoral shambles because they are deprived of the grand American tradition of overeating and watching football together?

Any family could pick any day and say "this is our Thanksgiving". May 10th, March 3rd, June 14th - let's all have a big dinner and appreciate each other.

"Thanks" is something you feel in your heart, and not because the calendar says it's the last Thursday of November.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I agree - no problem with food stores being open for a LITTLE while - as long as workers can get home sooner than later! I wouldn't have a problem if a store was using volunteers who wanted to be there - but that is too hard to enforce - and it is sometimes a fine line between "volunteers" and those who are pressured.

va32h: you are a little over the top (that thing about no Thanksgiving in other countries - not even going to address THAT, it is so ridiculous!!!)- I never spoke of conspiracies and such - and just because a company can turn a profit and all the rest - does not necessarily make it right - all I am saying is it wouldn't hurt to have a couple days a year where most people are allowed to stay home ( and wanting to be at work/volunteering is one thing - but that is not the reality for many, and it shouldn't be that way - especially just in the name of profit and one more day at the mall) ...no need to blow it all out of proportion - (why do so many people feel the need to take it there just to prove their point - see it way to often on here!?). I do feel these things are connected - to much emphasis on the wrong things and too little emphasis on what matters, that's all. I know many feel it is just fine for it to be a day like any other ..and run out to catch one more day of "great deals"- but I think that is very sad and I also believe that there are many who feel the way I do...enough said!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Wow. That sure sounds extreme. Our K-Mart and some other stores have always been open on Thanksgiving. Matter of fact they have a special Thanksgiving Day sale.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

MA has Blue Laws that cause the stores to have to close on these days...these are the same laws that apparently still make it illegal to folk/square dance on the Sabbath BTW, Whole Foods was also going to be open on Thanksgiving, but the AG sent them a letter saying that they couldn't after Shaws complained

hah
i work for shaws i didnt know we complained oh gosh i would not have been happy if i had to work turkey day to complete with whole foods

 

[castlegazer]

I think it stinks for a retailer to be open on Thanksgiving Day. Its illegal here in Massachusetts period. There has not been a repeal and if you feel strongly about, go out and try and get signatures to repeal it. I would bet you would not get them.

You may want to work on Thanksgiving but I would bet my bottom dollar that there are hundreds of Wal-Mart workers who would not but would be forced to.

I am in executive management for a national retailer and we close on Thanksgiving to allow our workers to be home with their familes.

 

[jbdreamer]

There are lots of places open on Thanksgiving! You shouldn't be that shocked. Gas stations and Movie Theaters for starters. We go to the movies every Thanksgiving! We see an 11 am show and then head home for and early dinner. Many restaurants and bars are open as well.

I don't see how the goverment can force a bussiness to close. Some places can't close. My father works at a sewage treatment plant, you can't close that down! He has worked on many holidays.

 

[Crankyshank]

But it's not really that they are forcing the places to close. They are merely enforcing the law that has been in existence for centuries. If the retailers want to remain open on Thanksgiving and Christmas then they need to speak to the legislators to see about getting the law repealed. That's been the case in many of the blue laws including the alcohol on Sunday law.

My issue is that they shouldn't have it ok for some stores and not ok for others. Either all retail needs to be closed or all retail can be open in the state.

 

[cardaway]

I think it stinks for a retailer to be open on Thanksgiving Day. Its illegal here in Massachusetts period. There has not been a repeal and if you feel strongly about, go out and try and get signatures to repeal it. I would bet you would not get them.

But unless this mean NOBODY is allowed to work, this becomes some kind of moral power play. Either it's OK to have places open or it's not.

 

[Crankyshank]

Actually it's not a moral power play. Other "categories" each went and got specific permission from the Commonwealth to overturn the blue law due to whatever circumstance they gave. Retail is classified differently than gas stations, movie theaters, emergency operations, etc... There's even classification differences within retail itself.
The problem is that most retailers don't want to be open on that holiday because they don't generate enough revenue to justify the OT they would have to pay out as well as operation costs. That's why it took so long to get liquor stores to be allowed to open on Sundays. It's not just the legislators to blame for this.

 

[cardaway]

Actually it's not a moral power play. Other "categories" each went and got specific permission from the Commonwealth to overturn the blue law due to whatever circumstance they gave. Retail is classified differently than gas stations, movie theaters, emergency operations, etc... There's even classification differences within retail itself.

I understood that to be the case but I still call it a moral situation. Just check out the responses here that include statements like "people should be home with their families". What they are really saying is that people should be home with their families unless it's something I will/may need during the day.

 

[tiff211]

They probably thought South Attleboro was part of Rhode Island and that's why they aren't making a stink.
Hmm I wonder if Whole Foods in Providence is open tomorrow.

I live walking distance away but in RI, I'd rather go there than in RI shopping. 5% tax vs. 7%.

 

[Ergens2]

Doesn't NC still have Sunday blue laws? I remember being at my grandmothers during the summer and the town would pretty much shut down on Sundays. I know here in VA our liquor stores are closed on Sundays. I don't know if that is everywhere or not as I am not a big liquor drinker. (except when at Epcot!!! Margarita Madness!!)

 

[Crankyshank]

Ok I see your point now. Yeah from a voter POV I'm sure it is a moral thing.

but then again, from a moral POV, thing of poor Joe Schmo working 2 jobs to support his family. that OT he gets working the holidays will help pay for his utility bill people don't want the gov't to help him out with

 

[Crankyshank]

I live walking distance away but in RI, I'd rather go there than in RI shopping. 5% tax vs. 7%.

My family is 20min away in Attleboro. I shop there all of the time for the same reason or have DH pick things up on his way home from work in MA.
Not much longer though hopefully, the Governor is trying to lower the sales tax to compete with MA

 

[va32h]

va32h: you are a little over the top (that thing about no Thanksgiving in other countries - not even going to address THAT, it is so ridiculous!!!)-

Why is it ridiculous? The argument is - people shouldn't work on Thanksgiving because they should spend time with their families.

My argument is, Thanksgiving is an arbitrary day - and the exact same end could be achieved by taking any day of the year off to spend with your family. There is nothing magical about the last Thursday of November that makes spending that day with your family any more significant than any other day.

An argument was put forth that not honoring Thanksgiving is contributing to the moral decay of our society. Other countries do not celebrate Thanksgiving. You are aware of that, aren't you? Has this lack of Thanksgiving prohibited families in other nations from appreciating or loving each other? Has it contributed to a moral decline in those nations?

Unless one of us intends to personally interview everyone who works on Thanksgiving Day, none of us can say that none of them want to be there or any of them want to be there.

I, personally, would have no problem working on Thanksgiving Day, and I would certainly resent a nanny government telling me that I was legally prohibited from doing so because a bunch of legislators know what's good for me, better than I do.