Apparently there is a growing backlash against big-box stores opening on Thanksgiving, with threats of boycott in the air:
The list of big-box retailers opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day is growing, and so is the list of consumers threatening to shop elsewhere.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE:M) is joining the ranks of retailers offering turkey-day deals in 2013, marking the first time in its 155-year history that it will open for business on Thanksgiving. It joins numerous stores that have done so over the last few holiday seasons, with many opening their doors earlier and earlier each year.
Target Corporation…said this week that it will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, an hour earlier than it did in 2012. Best Buy…and…Toys R Us Inc. also plan to open earlier this year….
Many workers — and shoppers — say they’ve had enough. On social media and online petitions across the Internet, opponents are sounding off, demanding that companies allow workers to spend Thanksgiving at home with their families. The word “boycott” is being thrown around routinely, particularly on Twitter…
First of all, in terms of rights, there is obviously nothing objectionable about organizing a boycott for any reason whatsoever, so long as it is truly voluntary and merely involves a coordinated effort to refrain from patronizing targeted businesses.
Second, I hate unbridled consumerism as well, and can’t believe people would want to do anything Thanksgiving evening besides pass out on the couch.
But notwithstanding these caveats, I think this outrage that we hear every year is oddly selective. For example, should all gas stations, highway toll booths, bus stations, and airports be closed on Thanksgiving? If so, that would prevent a lot of people from “spending the holidays with their families.” Even if your sole criterion were to boost the amount of time people spend with their loved ones, you would need at least some critical workers at their posts on Thanksgiving Day (at least the morning and afternoon).
(For the rest of the article, click the link.)
When will we see this worshipping of the almighty dollar is ruining our society….we have already lost so much of the fabric of society, being the family nucleus disrupted. Can't we get just a handful of days where we just stop and be thankful and be with our families? My God this is just ludicrous!!!
iIn reality people have X amount of dollars to spend on Christmas……do it does not make any difference whether is spent on BLACK FRIDAY or CHRISTMAS EVE…….the stores are going to come out the same in the long run..SO LET YOUR WORKERS ENJOY THE DAY WITH THER FAMILIES. Why anyone would what to camp out half the night to be the first one in the store is beyond me
To each his own. I will wager that you get a day off, or even two days off, every week. Not being a major consumer nor shopper myself, I can think of no rational reason for anyone to be upset with the free choice of a business to open its doors for business. You can choose to participate or not; you have the choice.
and having to work for those employers that worship the top, bottom, and in between dollar is just as bad because these companies put their profit and bonuses over any good that can or should be done for all their hardworking employees.in the past I have worked for certain employers who really had a heart for their people, but now I work for one who doesn't even give a turkey or ham or card or anything for the holidays to their employees. and if they ever do then they figure they have to take tax out of the total value, so impersonal. And this company I am talking about makes multi billions in profit every year.it just all testifies to their corporate greed from the top down.
Exactly. If I want to shop on the day after Thanksgiving I appreciate the stores being open for me. However, For a store to force an employee to work on a national Holiday, or else, which is the impression I'm getting for part of the argument, that is just wrong! I don't know the employment practices of the major stores, but it seems to me that, with a bonus offering and volunteers to work that day, there should be no reason, except religious, for a store not to open! As for the religious argument: well, not everyone believes; and those who don't ought not be forced to comply with the wishes of those who do because it offends religious sensibilities!