Black Friday has really lost control. It used to be that stores opened at
7AM. Then they went to 6AM. Then K Mart started a new trend and was
open on Thanksgiving. That was a shocker. I could not help but
think of those poor employees missing the holiday with their families just to
get a few more sales. I thought that experiment would fizzle out. I
was wrong. Other retailers started moving back their openings.
Stores opened at 5AM Friday. Then it was pushed back to midnight.
This year was just too much. Stores opened as early as 4PM on
Thanksgiving! I really wonder if the stores are really reaping the
benefits of the time change. Does opening earlier really get them more
sales or are the normal Friday sales figures simply stretched over a two day
period? It’s reaching the point where we might as well not even have the
holiday. I always thought of Thanksgiving as a day of rest, spending time
with family and carrying on traditions like watching parades or football.
Now as the turkey cooks, the Thursday ads are being scanned and items
circled. People now go shopping in the afternoon, wait in lines forever,
and continue shopping through the night and into Friday. Now when Friday
comes, however, the parking lots at Wal-Mart and the other big chains are
bare. They used up their splash the night before. I understand the
logic. They post the ads on line a week before hand so people can make
plans. Then they can clean up when other stores are closed. That way
customers won’t have to choose which store to visit at opening. The
opening times are staggered so shoppers can hit all the sales and wait in
countless lines. It makes me sick to see what the holiday has morphed
into. People have become so crazed by these sales that they will actually
take items out of other people’s carts when they are not looking so that they
can get the early bird sale. How petty is that? When will the
madness stop? Will the store employees ever get to enjoy the holiday
again? Companies will continue to do these promotions as long as they are
working. If enough people boycotted Thursday shopping, I believe it would
go away and we could return to just having Black Friday. Somehow, I think
that is a pipe-dream. With the ever increasing trend toward earlier
openings, the holiday will end up being turkey sandwiches eaten while in a line
outside a store. So much for giving thanks.
7AM. Then they went to 6AM. Then K Mart started a new trend and was
open on Thanksgiving. That was a shocker. I could not help but
think of those poor employees missing the holiday with their families just to
get a few more sales. I thought that experiment would fizzle out. I
was wrong. Other retailers started moving back their openings.
Stores opened at 5AM Friday. Then it was pushed back to midnight.
This year was just too much. Stores opened as early as 4PM on
Thanksgiving! I really wonder if the stores are really reaping the
benefits of the time change. Does opening earlier really get them more
sales or are the normal Friday sales figures simply stretched over a two day
period? It’s reaching the point where we might as well not even have the
holiday. I always thought of Thanksgiving as a day of rest, spending time
with family and carrying on traditions like watching parades or football.
Now as the turkey cooks, the Thursday ads are being scanned and items
circled. People now go shopping in the afternoon, wait in lines forever,
and continue shopping through the night and into Friday. Now when Friday
comes, however, the parking lots at Wal-Mart and the other big chains are
bare. They used up their splash the night before. I understand the
logic. They post the ads on line a week before hand so people can make
plans. Then they can clean up when other stores are closed. That way
customers won’t have to choose which store to visit at opening. The
opening times are staggered so shoppers can hit all the sales and wait in
countless lines. It makes me sick to see what the holiday has morphed
into. People have become so crazed by these sales that they will actually
take items out of other people’s carts when they are not looking so that they
can get the early bird sale. How petty is that? When will the
madness stop? Will the store employees ever get to enjoy the holiday
again? Companies will continue to do these promotions as long as they are
working. If enough people boycotted Thursday shopping, I believe it would
go away and we could return to just having Black Friday. Somehow, I think
that is a pipe-dream. With the ever increasing trend toward earlier
openings, the holiday will end up being turkey sandwiches eaten while in a line
outside a store. So much for giving thanks.
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