Thanksgiving has yet to arrive but many stores have been in the Christmas mode for the last two or three weeks.
Thanksgiving traditionally has been a day or days for families to get together. Traveling starts the weekend before and culminates on a very hectic Wednesday. It seems that from a work production standpoint to be one of the least productive weeks of the year with many having the Friday after off from work and school. Many people opt to work on Veteran’s Day in lieu of getting the Friday after Thanksgiving off. These are the same people who sport those tacky “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their cars. You don’t support our troops, you support Wal-Mart et al. Who are you kidding? Turkey and football have been the staple for Thanksgiving day for years, but now shopping is suddenly making its way on the same plate this year.
It wasn’t bad enough that stores would have these early bird (5AM) specials on Black Friday. Now this year some are stepping up their openings to midnight or even as early as 9 PM on Thanksgiving Day. They want to grab the customer’s dollars before the competition does. The frenzy that takes place in many of these places reminds me of the old dollar days at Filene’s Basement where people would cue up for hours in front of the store to snatch up some so called bargains that they probably didn’t even need.
Some stores such as Best Buy, wanting to give their employees what they call a “work-life balance,” are opting not to open at midnight but will maintain their 5 AM early opening. Isn’t that nice of them. Their employees will get to sleep until 3 or 4 AM.
Some are even marketing what they call “the American shopping experience” to foreign markets in the hopes of luring tourists to this country to “power shop.” America has a way of spreading its bad habits and vices to foreign countries.
Maybe next year they can somehow come up with a way of combining the Thanksgiving meal with shopping in between courses. How about them catering a turkey dinner in their stores. They can truly have an “Early Bird special.”
Thanksgiving - turkey, football and that great American past time, SHOPPING!!
I’m thankful that I don’t work for any of these companies.
Thanksgiving traditionally has been a day or days for families to get together. Traveling starts the weekend before and culminates on a very hectic Wednesday. It seems that from a work production standpoint to be one of the least productive weeks of the year with many having the Friday after off from work and school. Many people opt to work on Veteran’s Day in lieu of getting the Friday after Thanksgiving off. These are the same people who sport those tacky “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their cars. You don’t support our troops, you support Wal-Mart et al. Who are you kidding? Turkey and football have been the staple for Thanksgiving day for years, but now shopping is suddenly making its way on the same plate this year.
It wasn’t bad enough that stores would have these early bird (5AM) specials on Black Friday. Now this year some are stepping up their openings to midnight or even as early as 9 PM on Thanksgiving Day. They want to grab the customer’s dollars before the competition does. The frenzy that takes place in many of these places reminds me of the old dollar days at Filene’s Basement where people would cue up for hours in front of the store to snatch up some so called bargains that they probably didn’t even need.
Some stores such as Best Buy, wanting to give their employees what they call a “work-life balance,” are opting not to open at midnight but will maintain their 5 AM early opening. Isn’t that nice of them. Their employees will get to sleep until 3 or 4 AM.
Some are even marketing what they call “the American shopping experience” to foreign markets in the hopes of luring tourists to this country to “power shop.” America has a way of spreading its bad habits and vices to foreign countries.
Maybe next year they can somehow come up with a way of combining the Thanksgiving meal with shopping in between courses. How about them catering a turkey dinner in their stores. They can truly have an “Early Bird special.”
Thanksgiving - turkey, football and that great American past time, SHOPPING!!
I’m thankful that I don’t work for any of these companies.
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