However, Macy's is doing exactly the opposite. This week, Macy's announced that its department stores will open at 6 pm on Thanksgiving day, two hours earlier than the 8 pm opening last year. 6 pm is right around dinnertime for many families. If many people want to get to Macy's as soon as the doors open, they will have to skip their Thanksgiving feast with family, probably the most special part of the Thanksgiving holiday. Macy's is overlooking the Thanksgiving holiday in order to focus on its Christmas sales, instead of simply allowing everyone to enjoy the holiday and wait until Black Friday to shop for gifts. In fact, Black Friday may be "facing extinction" as more and more stores, like Macy's, open on Thanksgiving day.
By opening doors on Thanksgiving, many employees are forced to work instead of enjoying the holiday. TJ Maxx, which will open its stores at 7 am on Black Friday, strongly opposes opening on Thanksgiving day. Doreen Thompson, a spokeswoman for the store, claims, "We consider ourselves an associate-friendly company, and we are pleased to give our associates the time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends." I completely agree with TJ Maxx's decision to stay closed on Thanksgiving. It should be a time to celebrate the holiday, not focus on the next holiday which will come 28 days later. Sales most likely won't even increase since they will just "displace sales that would otherwise have been rung up on Black Friday or later in the season." People should not skip over Thanksgiving to move straight to Christmas shopping. Stores should leave Black Friday for the sales, not the Thanksgiving holiday itself.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more. I understand that stores like to advertise a few weeks early, but two major holidays in advance is a little absurd. Halloween and Thanksgiving are two holidays that I would have thought Macy's would have definitely advertised for. Especially, Thanksgiving. When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. To me, that is definitely Macy's most popular holiday to advertise for, not Christmas. Further, I completely agree with you that stores should wait until it is actually Black Friday to start their Black Friday sales. Companies should give their employees Thanksgiving day off to spend with their families, not to be working obscene hours. I think that companies need to start taking holidays one season at a time and 'tis not the season for Christmas... yet.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I think that around the big buzz are holiday shopping every year has become dangerous to our society. Many people consume themselves so much in the shopping that they lose sight of the actual reason why they are buying gifts in the first place. In the business world, they see it as a perfect opportunity to grab our money while they can. All companies are focused on making as much money as possible, this is why they continually make such a big deal out of holiday shopping.