Across the country, Americans are getting ready to celebrate some of the biggest days of the year: Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Over the past few years, Black Friday has become an increasingly huge deal, but is it getting in the way of Thanksgiving?
Companies including Walmart, JCPenney, Target and many more try to outdo each other by releasing their Black Friday deals earlier than everyone else. Even Amazon.com is offering deals on Black Friday in order to compete with retail stores as well as online competitors. This year, many deals will start at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
As we all know, people tend to go completely crazy for these deals. In the last several years, there have been reports of extreme violence, such as shootings, just to grab the best deal. There have been several cases over the past few years of Walmart employees being trampled to death by consumers while trying to open the main entrance in order for customers to get in. When do we say enough is enough? What causes people to disregard the safety of other human beings just so they can catch a deal?
Year after year, companies push the time that these deals start forward. In 2012, deals at Walmart started at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Last year, the deals started at 6 p.m., and this year, the deals will begin at that time again. It’s not just Walmart either. Virtually every big retail store chain does this so they can compete with each other. Thanksgiving is a huge holiday to the majority of the American people, and with companies starting their Black Friday sales on Thursday, many Americans who would rather be at home with their families having Thanksgiving dinner will be stuck at work, trying to help ravenous consumers satisfy their need for instant gratification.
Many Americans try to boycott companies that start Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving, but since almost every major company now does this (and the vast majority of people simply do not care), their options are extremely limited. Fortunately, some companies are taking notice of these people who don’t support companies that start Black Friday deals early. CostCo, among others, will not be open on Thanksgiving this year.
In an email to The Huffington Post, Paul Latham, the company’s vice president for membership and marketing, wrote,” Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season, and we simply believe that they deserve to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Nothing more complicated than that.” CostCo isn’t alone either. “Maybe call me old-fashioned, but I believe it’s an easy decision to make [to stay closed on Thanksgiving],” said Lauren Sen, CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club.
Although the majority of companies like Walmart and Target who’s deals will begin at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Walmart is also offering Black Friday deals all through Thanksgiving week. While this is most likely just to get ahead of the competition, it’s also a good way to alleviate the hassles and, quite frankly, the dangers of Black Friday for shoppers and employees alike. Many companies are taking notice of what Walmart is doing and are also offering deals throughout the week. Hopefully in the next few years, we will see companies spread deals throughout Thanksgiving week in order to defuse the Black Friday madness and so employees can enjoy Thanksgiving with their families at home.
