Who's Going Shopping On Black Thursday?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:36am

Wal-Mart, Best Buy and others are opening on Thanksgiving day this year. As much as I'm all about Black Friday and waking up at 3am to get to the stores early with my Mother and deal with the insanity (it's tradition for us when I fly down and we actually do have a lot of fun) I think stores opening up on Thanksgiving day is just wrong. So many people are going to opt out of spending the day with their families so that they can line up at Best Buy to get a cheap computer and that's just sad.

But of course with people who depend on Black Friday to do their Christmas shopping (and even personal shopping that they're able to do once a year for things they need) since they don't have a lot of money, it's kind of a no-win situation for them since they'll have to miss Thanksgiving in order to do this.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:40am

Have fun and stay safe! As for myself...i am not that brave! LOL!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:41am

I feel sorry for the employees, since I doubt employees of stores like that have much say in their work schedules. (In other words, I doubt that it's on a volunteer basis.)

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:44am

Also, the notion that you actually get the best deals on Black Friday (and I imagine the same will be true on Black Thanksgiving) has been somewhat debunked recently.
The Myth of the Black Friday Deal

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:49am

Some of the loss leaders are great deals, but I have never been a fan of crowds to begin with - so a black Friday/Thursday night seems literally like hell on earth.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:50am

I forgot about the Employees having to be there, Reg. And that just makes me hate it even more.

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:53am

I don't shop when there are crowds. I don't care what day it is!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:54am

YWIW, I'm sure there are some great deals to be had. But I'd want to make sure I'd done my research to make sure that it's worth the nightmare.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:54am

What if someone threw a consumer whore party and no one came?

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 11:04am

I think my sisters were in line at Walmart last year by 10pm on Thanksgiving. I've heard of people actually camping out all day on Thanksgiving just to get into stores. It is quite sad. To me, no item is worth giving up Thanksgiving for.

[suestorm]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:09pm

i dont see a problem with it...the girls can all go shopping after dinner when the men are watching their football.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:10pm

Good point, Elaine. Except it's not.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:11pm

I have NO IDEA where anyone would get the idea that it is trolling.

[OneMoreRound]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:11pm

This is a horrible trend. Bad enough that the retail workers are working for near-minimum wage and no benefits, now they can't even have a Thanksgiving with their families. And for what ? There are plenty of other days to go shopping.

[suestorm]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:17pm

Pinnocchio/GretchenWeiners/Jordan, if people want to go shopping on Thanksgiving, why do you care? to each their own

Updated On: 11/12/13 at 01:17 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:20pm

Suestorm/Nomdeplume/Elaine, I don't care if people go shopping.

Updated On: 11/12/13 at 01:20 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:21pm

Listening to Diane Rhem today I heard about the horrors of what it's like to be a worker bee at an Amazon.com "fulfillment center" and the human toll it takes for Americans to sit at their computers and have items speedily shipped to them for free.

It really is remarkable that a company that doesn't make a profit can effectively wipe out whole industries (farewell American bookstores) and cause physical damage to underpaid employees. Talk about your end stage capitalism.

Knowing things makes shopping in the US a complicated experience.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:32pm

"At the most extreme end of the spectrum, Kmart announced that it is going to open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving and not close again until 11 p.m. on Black Friday. For those keeping score, that's 41 straight hours of shopping madness. Kmart has been opening at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving for several years now, but this is the first time that it won't be closing for a few hours to let workers enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with their families."


Link

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:45pm

Luckily KMart workers can't afford food or families.

[suestorm]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:47pm

capitalism bad...companies evil... rich... devil, something something

[tazber]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:52pm

I know some people who are working on Thanksgiving and are delighted to get holiday pay.

Not saying it's true for everyone, but they are being compensated for it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:58pm

When we did exchange gifts in my family, I don't ever recall hitting a store the day after Thanksgiving. Just watch the newscasts about Black Friday, and see how many newcasters make "black" a two syllable word (bah-lack).

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:59pm

Taz, I think it's fine if it's their choice. And I'm sure it can be useful for some people to be able to shop that day.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:59pm

Yeah, if folks want to work that is great, for those that don't it kind of suck. I used to work at a movie theater in HS/part of college. It was always a fight figuring out who had to work the holidays (I don't think we got double time). I usually volunteered for the Christmas shifts because, well, not really my holiday - but there were some grumpy folks who had to leave family gatherings to dole out popcorn and sodas.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 2:19pm

Was it Bergdorf's or Bendel's that held out from opening on Sundays for years?


I remember their ads were in the same spot every week in the Sunday paper "Never on Sunday" (or words to that effect).

What quaint, old-fashioned notions--newspapers and making a gesture to the idea that there is more to life than consumerist consumption.