Posted on 11/18/2011 9:45:27 AM PST by Libloather
Workers angry as Black Friday creeps into Thanksgiving
By Kavita Kumar
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Friday, November 18, 2011
ST. LOUIS – Lyndsey Shaw has been on the front lines of Black Friday in years past, helping to open the Best Buy store in Brentwood, Mo., by 5 a.m.
But when Best Buy decided to follow other retailers this year in moving up its opening time to midnight on Thanksgiving, Shaw worried she would have to miss her family’s tradition of going out to see Christmas lights after their holiday dinner.
“We don’t usually get everything cleaned up and out the door until 10 p.m.,” she said.
Fortunately, her supervisor allowed her to work a Friday afternoon shift instead.
But with several other retailers, including Macy’s, Kohl’s and Target, also opening at midnight for the first time, a groundswell of protest has been brewing among people who worry that not all retail employees will be as lucky and that some will have to skip out early on family gatherings.
And moreover, critics assert, the earlier opening times are encroaching too much on a holiday that should be reserved for family – not for shopping.
(Excerpt) Read more at nashuatelegraph.com ...
Being a zookeeper and earning a little extra cash beat the hell out of having a Thanksgiving dinner alone at the local Denny's.
Be sure to upload it to GoogTube, too!
Having been in business for a long time, if retailers thought customers would show up on Thanksgiving they would be open. Capitalism works it is not kind, fair, benevolent or anything else. Black Friday is all about which shark eats fastest and hardest when the baby seals hit the water. The seals have to swim and the sharks got to eat. Merry Christmas!
How FDR Changed Thanksgiving
So when U.S. retailers begged him to move Thanksgiving up a week to increase the shopping days before Christmas, he agreed.
I now ALWAYS go for an extended day hike with my dog on Friday - rain or shine.
The wife and I did the Denny’s thing for a while, amazing how crowded it is for such so-so food. Of course back then they were almost the only place open, now some of the better restaurants are open, we’re going to my favorite local joint this year. And the stores weren’t into the midnight opening thing yet, black friday was an all day event not a door buster festival like it is now. I probably wouldn’t have minded working the day in the past, but things never bounced that way, when I did do retail I liked really busy days, they flew by.
—I personally boycott Black Friday....I hate everything about it.—
I love it. It is like going to Germany and joining Oktoberfest and watching guys dance in lederhosen, or going to the hula dance and feast in Hawaii. It’s a taste of local culture.
I’m strictly an observer though.
I think it was last year, maybe the year before, Target did a couple hours on Thanksgiving afternoon, don’t think it was successful. But definitely if the crowds had shown up everybody would be doing it this year.
People can’t cope with the silliest things. This is their biggest problem??
I’m with you. My personal rule of thumb is that I never shop on days that I wouldn’t want to work myself. That means Sundays and most holidays. My Saturdays are pretty busy, as a result!
My shopping is done, and mostly via internet shopping. I hate the mall and all the grabby nasty people.
Thanksgiving afternoon and the rest of that weekend is for decorating and wrapping and chilling with the family.
That’s what capitalism is, competition for the pennies. While I’m sure it stinks for the employees that’s why they’re entry level jobs, you’re supposed to aspire to something better. And really Christmas seasons stinks for low end retail employees anyway....
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Dittoes. And I wonder how many millions of un-employed workers would like to take their place?
I worked in retail a lot when I was younger. I never saw it as a career. The hours suck.
As these people are learning. :-D
Never have two FR tabs open at the same time. ;)
I sold stereos for Jafco in the mid-1970’s. One of the salespeople left to work for a software company and I could not understand why anyone would do that. I loved selling stereos for $5.50 an hour.
I eventually learned that programming computers for $125 an hour was not only more empowering, but was on a much better schedule.
I am sure there are many retail employees who would gladly work the hours for the extra money. They will bellyache about it until they get their paychecks.
Disclaimer. I owned retail stores in SoCal for 4 years. They served the Asian communities which didn’t really care what American Christian holiday was occurring. They were interested in making their money.
I worked retail for decades. Now that I am out of the business...I avoid Black Friday and the Week after Christmas. Hate is not a strong enough word...
We take the kids together to see a family friendly movie when possible, while the guys watch any sports they want.
I worked in the business for a time. When our employer (who had already filed a Chapter 11) floated a trial balloon on a conference call about opening on Thanksgiving, one store manager spoke up and said “Well, dammit, you’ve gotta draw the line somewhere!”
He got fired and we were open on Thanksgiving.
Black Friday is out of control. That incident a couple of years ago at the WalMart where an employee got trampled to death was utterly predictable.
Agreed. Having sales start at midnight will attract a crowd you really don't want in your store.
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