Is our Black Friday shopping craze out of control?
Wal-Mart shoppers in 2005
As I was driving to work this morning, I heard a radio report that made me shudder. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that most Wal-Mart stores will stay open Thanksgiving night to ease the crowding that led to a worker’s trampling death a year ago.
Millions of Americans make shopping their day after Thanksgiving ritual. They line up in the wee hours of the morning — or, often, in the late hours of Thursday night — outside malls and big box stores to grab discounted Playstations or TVs or whatever this year’s must-have toy might be.
A few years ago when I went out to do some reporting on these people, would-be shoppers got indignant as I approached them, fearful I was trying to cut in line. Only after I waved my press pass and notebook did they calm down. Still, I heard some shouted threats and foul language. All I could think was, ‘Wow, they’ve got the Christmas spirit.’
So, is Wal-Mart making a smart business decision and trying to put customers first? Or is it putting its profits first and trying to grab every dollar it can? Will you head out to shop while your turkey is still digesting? Wasn’t it enough for stores to open at 3 or 4 a.m.?
Most of the Wal-Mart stores in my area of the nation already stay open 24 hours a day and have for quite a few years. So the question asked is irrelevant. But nothing can ever change the mentality of the idiots who caused the trouble last year. Those people aren’t real people, they’re animals in people skin.
Ray, most Wal-Marts are closed on Thanksgiving Day, even the 24-hour ones. But that does raise the question of what time the stores that are closed will open for Black Friday…er, Black Thursday Night?
Ray kinda hit the nail on the head.
We are always going to have idiots amongst us and people that camp out the night before a store opens definitely fall into the idiot category. People that trample others in hopes of scoring a $29 DVD player are in fact animals.
Ray, it wasn’t very clear but I’m assuming they’re saying they will never close, not even to change signs? The 24 hour stores would close for at least some peroid of time to put out merchandise and signs and then re-open the doors.
If the people want the items on sale for a particular price, it does not matter what time the store opens. If people will recall, stores over 20 years ago weren’t allowed to be open on Sundays in our area, and now they are. I have no problem with Wal-Mart or any store being open at times where it makes sense from a business point of view. If you’re against this, you should also be against free market capitalism to be consistent. No business should be regulated based on religious grounds or holiday grounds like in the past. Otherwise, you lose the separation between Church and State and I don’t want us to lose that separation. We can look at Iran to see what happens when there is no separation between Church and State where the religious leaders rule over the country.
Actually, most Wal-Marts close early enough that the employees can enjoy a dinner with family on Thanksgiving, then close again on Christmas eve until the wee morning hours of the day after Christmas. Even the 24 hour centers.
It’s sad that black friday shoppers are driving a retailer to take family time away from their employees.
Sara, people will say that WalMart is doing it for the money and there is definitely some truth to that. What most will fail to recognize is the behavior of the insane shoppers that jostle for position and even trample people to death all in the name of saving a few bucks on a flat screen.
If by staying open instead of closing and opening to an insane mob is what it takes to avoid death and lawsuits, then they have to do what they have to do.
Is Black Friday really necessary? How many more people have to die until they stop this silly promotion?
I worked a part-time job in retail for years. (I’m no workaholic, at the time I just needed the extra income) My advise to anyone who actually enjoys the Christmas holidays is to never ever ever get a retail job. I’ll take Thanksgiving Day with a turkey dinner and football over Christmas Day with all the it’s gifts (and bills) any time.
Wal-Mart is successful, and that’s precisely why people hate them. Especially people like P-D writers (THE REST OF THIS COMMENT WAS DELETED FOR BEING OFF-TOPIC.)