There are two things that seem to happen earlier every time the season rolls around. First, there’s the presidential primaries. States are now competing to be the first to choose the nominees for the Democrats and the Republicans, with the earliest voting now taking place nearly a year before the general election. The second is Christmas shopping. Black Friday used to mark the kick off to the purchasing frenzy that led up to December 25. But, no more.
When you went to your local drugstore to buy your Halloween candy, you probably saw the Christmas decorations already finding their way onto shelves. And now, more stores are jumping on the trend of opening Thanksgiving Day to start the deal hunting before the turkey even settles.
There has been a bit of controversy over the way in which shopping has started to consume Thanksgiving, with one Target employees getting thousands of signatures on an online petition asking the retail giant not to open at midnight on Black Friday, as this will require workers to arrive by 11:00pm. Others have pledged to spend their money at small businesses with employees that remain home with family, friends, and football the day before the official shopping season begins.
Of course, the business owners wouldn’t be opening on Thanksgiving if they didn’t know the desire to shop on this day exists. I have no doubt that plenty of money will be made at Walmart, Toys R Us, and several other holiday go-to stores that will be opening before the clock turns to Black Friday.
As a career coach, I encourage people to strive for more success than they ever dreamed possible and to think outside the box in order to achieve their goals. In some ways, developing new marketing efforts and getting a leg up on your competition should be applauded by career-driven entrepreneurs. But, I also stress the importance of rest and quality time with family in order to be a well-balanced and more productive person. Where does the push up of Black Friday fall in these arguments?
What should be the verdict on Thanksgiving shopping? How do you feel about the “Christmas creep”?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i think a company that puts profits aside to give their people rest and family time, will end up getting more profits in the end because the market will ultimately reward them…
people respect companies that take a stand… such as, Chick-Fil-A being closed on Sunday in honor of the Sabbath…
Todd – I could not agree more … on a side note, back when I was single – I accidentally stumbled into figuring out that THE BEST time to Christmas shop is the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving anyway. I am not a big shopper… and one Wednesday night before Thanksgiving in Dallas I needed to run to the mall (I went to the Galleria) to get some warmer clothes to run in the Turkey Trot the next day because it was going to be cold. I found out that all the stores have all their best merchandise out and ready and NOBODY is in the store. The salespeople don’t have anyone else to wait on so they had time to help. In addition to getting warm clothes for the run, I completed my Christmas shopping in less than an hour …. no lines … no elbowing other customers to get to what I needed…. SO you will NEVER catch me in a store on Black Friday!!!
Happy Thanksgiving My Friend! Joe