Department Store Shopping on Thanksgiving Day

With black Friday hours pushing further and further back, stores race to be the place to go to shop for sales. With the exception of a few stores staying loyal to the thanksgiving tradition and family time, the vast majority are giving in to the competitive pressures. The employees of these stores are going to work sometimes at even earlier hours than a normal work day.  I imagine that as an employee of a department store, all I would be able to think about would be getting home to spend the holiday with my family.

As some stores are opening up, the debate between the importance of family time versus sales comes into play. In the long run, staying closed on Thanksgiving day will improve the store’s community. The president of the Von Maur department store says that opening on Thanksgiving day “will hurt employee morale.” By enforcing Thanksgiving as a work day, stores are embedding that work is more important than family. It saddens me to imagine an empty chair at my Thanksgiving table because of work. I don’t think that it is fair to even present the option (if it is an option) of working on Thanksgiving. With bonus’ often available for working holiday hours, some employees may not be able to turn the opportunity down. Employees are being paid to choose work and money over family.

Department stores aren’t the only ones opening on Thanksgiving day. The local Winnetka Starbucks too is opened until 4 pm on Thanksgiving. Maybe the baristas and cashiers will have time to race home and get ready for a Thanksgiving dinner but they are truly missing out on what the day is about. Why does Starbucks need to be open on this day when it is already so successful? For the other people waking up early who need coffee to prepare their meal? Thanksgiving is a day for all classes, not just the customers of Starbucks. It’s a holiday for the baristas, the customers, the cashiers, the shoe department guy, the salesman—everyone.

With the morning and afternoon full of preparation of the thanksgiving meal, and the rest of the day spent eating and being with family, who really has the time to go out shopping? The retail world is intruding on the day where people are giving thanks. Going out to buy more from the material world in my mind, isn’t being thankful for what you already have.  While Jim Fisher, a marketing professor at St. Louis university says that it is a great opportunity for most retailers, I don’t think that it is worth it.

Would opening department stores on Thanksgiving be beneficial to the community? Is it worth it?

Chicago Tribune Article “Open Thursday? No, thanks.” By Kavita Kumar