Retailers That Open on Thanksgiving: Is It Wrong?

I think keeping stores opened on Thanksgiving is immoral.  Employees should be able to spend time with their families.  If no one goes to the stores, then store owners will think twice about wasting their resources for no profit.  That's why my family makes a point not to go to any store on Thanksgiving day. 

You stay closed while everyone else is open. Unless what you have to sell is absolutely unique, letting customers walk into a competitor's storefront has a cost. Sentimentality is rarely good for business. Add to that the fact that online stores don't ever close at all, a brick and mortar store really can only compete on service and immediate gratification.

make every  day black Friday.  If the customer comes to your store only for a specific item on sale have they truly expanded their customer base?  

I have worked Thanksgiving twice in a row. Last year I had company, but could not eat with them due to work. This year I had no company, becuase we celebrated on Sunday. We have been slammed all weekend and yes I have been there. I have had to work from last wed to next monday. I am already exhausted due to inconsiderate customers that leave the store trashed beyond compare. I am sorry, but my mom use to yell if I didnt put things away let alone touch without buying. I have worked retail a total of 16 years and it is not getting easier for holiday season. I would like to have the business closed to celebrate, but what of those people that celebrate early or dont have anything to do? Our store actually uses volunteers and if there is not a big supply of them, then he uses nonvolunteers. I find that quite fare, what I dont find fare is how the customers act and treat us in the process.

My son hasn't been able to join us for Thanksgiving for seven years because he works at a wine store that is open on Thanksgiving. If people didn't come into the shop, they wouldn't be open. Conversely, if the store wasn't open, people would be forced to "plan ahead" and pick up their wine any other day of the year...

Too much commercialism.  Think about the employees and their families. It's always about the bottom line, but business/corporations fail to think about the hostility it creates in the workforce and how employees resent the employer.  Why would I want to work hard for an employer only  to be treated like crap and not given a day off.  It is wrong to even open on Black Friday at midnight.  Most employees would have to sleep through Thanksgiving so they can get up and pull an all-nighter.  I worked my job today (non-retail) but did a 10.5 hour shift with no breaks and no lunch because there were customers waiting for assistance and we were short staffed.  It makes me feel like my employer could care less about me as a human and they don't value my commitment to the company.  

I guess no comment can avoid chinese bashing...  Being a foreign born chinese educated in the US, I becomes pretty tired of the hypocritical US culture. No one forces anyone to buy chinese goods. People there are working $5 a day for your iphone and ipad and getting less than 2% of what you paid.  http://www.china.org.cn/business/2011-11/21/content_23971647.htm If there is any victim, it is the people over there. Not the obese american consumers here.  why don't you just write to Apple and let it know that you are willing to pay $999 for ipad3 and be made in the US? 

I was stunned last night driving home from dinner to cars lined up trying to get in to our local Walmart. It was 9:30 pm and raining on top of everything! But if people come, the stores have good reason to open. If people would stay home, then the employees could enjoy this holiday with their Thanksgiving. This over commercialization of the holidays knows no bounds!

Make their stores safer?  Really?  They can control that, you know, by the way they choose to market their fabulous deals.  They generate the mad rush of chaos by having "doorbusters" (that's kinda the point of the word).  "Stack it high and watch it fly" has been the motto for forever.  The retail execs like this chaos--they thrive on the excitement and energy in an otherwise non-innovative but necessary delivery system.  But it's really hard on the employees who are just trying to earn a meager, part-time-no-benefits living. In my small hometown, they are pushing "small business Saturday," encouraging shoppers to go into the city on Friday, but to buy one thing from a small business sometime on Saturday (or during the weekend).  The idea (and catchphrase) are good ones.  I hope it catches on.  Small stores know they can't combine with big box stores.  They need to do their unique thing that they do well.  THAT's their competitive edge--not Thanksgiving hours.

Really for better employee morale it would be beneficial if retailers did close. We have the opportunity to make a cultural change. Intead of being open that extra day we can be putting a better emphasis on family and those that we care about. Yes profits are going to be high and people will shop on thanksgiving, but I find it very similar to retailers like Nordstrom that don't put up the holiday decorations and start playing holiday music till after thanksgiving. I find it highly annoying that this tine of the year is so focused on the best sales of the year rather than family and spending tmee with people, you at the very least like.

It is good to make your shop open for more time on thanksgiving days as it will be beneficial to attract the customer more to your shop. But how much you provide your best , on that time. None. As employee of the shop also wants to celebrate those time with their families. So all time open shop is justice for the customer but injustice with the families. So at this time none employee will provide his/her best in work. So to come out from this situation both employees and store owner has to understand each other's situation and try to manage the things.

In our 24 hour society everyone is always working. Husbands, wives, friends and relatives are often working different schedules and spending time together is becoming a lost art. There should be a few days a year that almost nothing should be open. We can all survive if the stores are closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter---and we would all be better off for it.

I am a bit split on this as I view that family unit as the corner stone of our social well being but I also recognize the capitalistic need of a for profit organization. There is no question that a balance needs to be established but I believe it can only be done on the individual level. A store that make the work mandatory may be crossing the line whereas the store that offers double pay to those who volunteer to work may be a bit more on point. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Closed on Thanksgiving Day for my small business. I would like to see more absolute days off for service and retail. I question whether the total cost, including the social cost, is worth it.

I refuse to support the decision to require mothers, brothers and others to work on a National holiday. We have so few times to reflect on life in the United States. This day is a holiday for our country encompassing all religions and ethnic backgrounds. Please don't shop today---- someone will be missing at your dinner table soon if we allow it to prosper.

Well said Carol! I like this post.

I have worked in the retail industry for over 25 years and have seen the progression of the earlier and earlier opening times for Black Friday sales.  Years ago,  we would open at regular time,  then it became 7AM,  then 5AM,  then 3AM,  and now midnight in many cases.  My concern is that once the opening time becomes midnight,  that becomes the customer's expectation.   They come to expect it the following year.  You can't unring that bell,  and the only way to draw MORE sales in future years is to bump it to an evern EARLIER time.  And yes,  customers will shop at whatever time the stores open.  If you promote the best deals and once-in-a-lifetime offers,  they will show up.   What needs to happen is that the retailers need to draw a line in the sand and say... " we will not open any earlier than 5AM ( or whatever seems reasonable) on Black Friday and stagger the great deals THROUGHOUT the weekend.  That controls the crowds to some degree,  and makes the weekend more of an event,   rather than the first 3-4 hours of Black Friday...

I'm a capitalist through and through, but I prefer to avoid retailers that make their employees work Thanksgiving and Christmas if I can.  Moreover, I will NOT shop at a store at all on these days.  It's not going to hurt to close stores early 2 days of the year and remain closed another two days of the year.  Further, both Thanksgiving and Christmas promote sales and the more that people are forced to work on these days, the less meaning they will carry in the long run. 

These employees need to be thankful that they have a job; there are plenty of people in the current economy that would happily go into work on Thanksgiving eve if it meant a solid paycheck. This is simply one of the known drawbacks to working in retail; just like one of the drawbacks in my sales career is answering clients 24-hours a day. Its time to suck it up and get business done!

I'm the Owner of a small Convenience Store.  We have chose to close on Thanksgiving Day so that our employees can spend the day with their family.

It's actually smarter to put your focus on optimizing your customer's experience in your store while also optimizing your stock turn.  This management centers on constantly keeping aware of how well items are selling/not selling and then acting appropriately.  The objective is to be out of seasonal inventory before Christmas day, or else you're both stuck with dead inventory as well as reducing your open to buy for Spring. Shoppers might be encouraged to know that hot sellers following Thanksgiving are often restocked quickly and promoted aggressively during early weeks of December.  And slow selling items, if managed correctly, are closely and frequently monitored with appropriate actions taken routinely throughout December until cleared out.  So, unless an item is a real dog you can pick up some good deals as merchants start aggressively moving items.

i have been a SMALL BUSINESS retailer w/an 8000sq ft store FULL of holiday clothing for 21years.  i will be home w/my family & so will my employees.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  www.sandjamm.com.

People have a choice about whether to shop on Thanksgiving - if no one shops, the stores won't open  on Thanksgiving again next year.

I have an online store & most of my wholesale accounts are small businesses which will be closed. My big sale starts on Thursday.  We have families and before we, as business owners, employees, consumers get crazed by the constant media hype, I'll be with family & friends.

I wonder what Lincoln and our forefathers would think of this BS.  It's also utter disregard for the purpose of the holiday - which was to take a break, bend a knee, and have gratitude for our life in this country...i don't know who to be more ashamed of - the retailers or consumers that are like brainless sheep.

I've never gone shopping on Thanksgiving and never will. Spending time with family and friends is more important than a discount or dealing with rude people in a store.

I would rather spend time with my family and friends. I realize that they matter more than an item that is on sale. Not worth it to me. I don't even join the black Friday hype. I rather shop online and not get into a fight with a crazy consumer who just has to have the last TV or whatever they are looking for lol.....

It's no surprise that this would happen. You start seeing sales in September for Christmas. It creeps closer every year. These employees can bitch and moan all they want, but in the end they will still show up and work. Don't want to work, don't show up. The real answer is to not work retail. You better expect to work long odd hours when working retail. That's the nature of the beast.

People are just going to stampede on Thanksgiving then, instead of Black Friday.

I plan to occupy my dinner table this Thanksgiving. I may be in the minority but lining up to stampede for the right to play tug-o-war with Chinese made junk with people whipped into a frenzy by media hype and "bargains" isn't a good replacement for Turkey Day.