Should stores be closed on Thanksgiving?

[daugen]

How Black Friday ate Thanksgiving and destroyed itself - Fortune Management

it is utterly amazing how the pursuit of greater profits has changed our marketplace, and from my standpoint,
not for the better. Some traditions may become outdated, but the tradition of family gathering on Sunday and for those
with faith in a higher being, a special day for many of them too.

I remember when almost nothing was open on Sundays except for the gas stations, and some of them were closed too.
We all seemed to survive just fine.

Thanksgiving has always been a time when families got together, kids came home, relatives came over, and
everyone eats and drinks too much and always debate whether it's better or worse to take a walk now...
Me? I let the others walk and i got the good seat by the fireplace.:thumbsup:

I never minded when they started Christmas carols on the radio a week before Thanksgiving. Got you in the mood, reminded you of what was coming and all you had to do... But I really, really, really don't want to look at Christmas displays in September.

Some would say "what is sacred any more"? I don't know how to answer that any more.

 

[Buppies]

Welcome to capitalism gone wild, but people hold the key if they don't go stores won't open. One local radio station has been playing only Christmas music since November first.

 

[avillahdw]

I agree with daugen. Without turning this into a diatribe, we can all see that society has been convinced/manipulated into the belief that material possessions will bring happiness. Why are billions spent by consumers on Black Friday? To have the latest and greatest at a "bargain". I am a retailer, having owned our hardware store for 14 years now. We have never been open on the "major" holidays nor Sundays. The gentleman that I purchased my store from had owned it for 45 years previously and taught me the business when I went to work for him out of college. The one thing that he said that has stuck with me is "You can run the store or the store can run you". I have tried to follow this simple statement. Could I make more money by being open on holidays and Sundays? Yes, no doubt about it. But because I run my business according to the stated principle, I make a good living and provide my employees with a good living all the while being closed on days when many business models say I should be open. Ever heard of a little restaurant called Chick-Fil-A? Further proof that a business can be run on biblical principles, be successful, honor God and take care of their employees. As our society moves farther away from "traditional" values, we will also move away from these time honored traditions that many of us hold dear. To be open on Thanksgiving? I choose not to because my family is more important than the dollar!

 

[3v0]

I have been hearing that the world is going to h*ll in a handbasket since before I was old enough to understand what it meant. I try not to get too worked up over it. Mind my own Ps and Qs sort of thing. Let others raise their blood pressure over something they can't change.

As I see it in part we don't like change, good or bad. On the other hand one would have to be blind and deaf not to see the money shrinking and our standard of living on the decline. We adjust, all the better if we can do that without getting too worked up.

 

[CobyRupert]

The problem is it's hard to mind your own P's & Q's when your employer says "Leave your family and work on Thanksgiving Day or else." You're sort of involved at that point.

Anyone who shops on Thanksgiving Day should be shamed by the rest of us who still have an ounce of values left.

 

[3v0]

The problem is it's hard to mind your own P's & Q's when your employer says "Leave your family and work on Thanksgiving Day or else." You're sort of involved at that point.
.

If you really don't like it vote with your feet and quit. Yeah, I never liked that advice either. But you still have the choice about how worked up you get over it.

 

[dave1949]

I don't like it and I don't shop on holidays.

The main problem I see with it the impact it has on people's ability to maintain strong family and friendship ties, or to spend quality time with children. We're becoming a bunch of drones.

 

[daugen]

Having owned several small business, including an insurance agency, we were always closed on Sundays, always closed on major holidays. But we would sure work right up to 6pm on Christmas eve in the electronics shop. What a day Christmas Eve is to a store that is basically an adult toy store, and last minute shoppers were amazingly grateful we had what we had. And then I sent everyone home with a gift and sometimes they had the next day off too.

I'm not worked up here. Really. But I am curious as to how others feel. Do you want your John Deere dealer open on Thanksgiving so you can do an oil change before the big dinner? Harbor Freight will sure be open, they give you five percent more to come in on a holiday.

The line is moving, I understand that. Just don't know when and where it should stop, but since I'm already
uncomfortable with what we have now, I'd say we've passed the line where I would stop.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I don't like it and I don't shop on holidays.

The main problem I see with it the impact it has on people's ability to maintain strong family and friendship ties, or to spend quality time with children. We're becoming a bunch of drones.

Main problem I have is with the sheer amount of idiots out there.. Almost every time I have been talked into going somewhere on a holiday, something bad has happened - like getting the car smashed.

Black Friday prices only tell me that that price will be the new price point for that item real soon anyways.. And that the retailer is willing to go down even farther later in the year..

 

[dave1949]

Main problem I have is with the sheer amount of idiots out there.. Almost every time I have been talked into going somewhere on a holiday, something bad has happened - like getting the car smashed.

Black Friday prices only tell me that that price will be the new price point for that item real soon anyways.. And that the retailer is willing to go down even farther later in the year..

Not only that, a lot of us here are beyond the age where the newest whatever is very exciting and our consumption of retail goods is declining. The marketing aimed at us is 90% about medical issues.