Christmas shopping creeps into Thanksgiving
Holidays are for family time
November 20, 2013
Turkeys won’t be the only ones sacrificing their lives this Thanksgiving.
This year, many stores, including Macy’s, Target and Kohl’s, will open their doors with Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving day, instead of waiting to open until early Friday morning.
Stores anticipate extra revenue from customers looking for Black Friday deals, and are increasingly neglecting the needs of their employees. Stores should keep their doors closed until Friday to encourage customers and employees alike to spend the holiday season with friends and family.
Both employees and customers suffer from the “Thanksgiving creep.” Opening stores earlier will lead to long lines and increased wait times. Shoppers looking to get the best deal will end up standing around for hours, instead of chomping down on turkey and spending the day in more desirable ways.
Not only will the “Thanksgiving creep” take away family time, it will diminish the thrill of shopping on Black Friday. With places offering even better deals on the shelves this Thanksgiving, the lower selection of merchandise on Black Friday will dissapoint those who have decided to continue their tradition of shopping solely on Black Friday. Many will feel forced to join the creep in order to be guaranteed the item of their dreams is in stock.
Many stores have begun leaning toward opening their doors earlier because of the revenue previous stores who started the trend gained. If shoppers simply stuck to shopping on Black Friday, stores would take into account the lack of crowds versus the projected turnout. Therefore, the more people who spend this Thanksgiving at home, the less likely stores will want to continue this trend.
Even though companies incentivize consumers to flock to their stores for extravagant deals, people should enjoy sitting around the table enjoying a Thanksgiving feast, instead of searching for a good deal.
