Should Stores Open on Thanksgiving? Freedom of choice, I guess. Obviously there is a market for people that want to break away from their feasts to bargain hunt in the lines at the stores. Far be it from me to judge. Some people bond over the shopping experience of pre Black Friday madness… some prefer family, Tryptophan, and football.
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Should Stores Open on Thanksgiving?
My personal stance comes from an angle of reminiscence and how it used to be… compared to what we’re seeing now as a new trend in general… the decreased importance in socializing with family and loved ones.
When I grew up, we would spend Thanksgiving day with as many relatives as we could fit into our basement. We had a super long wooden banquet table that we would set up and use a white paper runner as the table cloth since there wasn’t a store-bought fabric table cloth anywhere that would fit on it.
The celebration started early, and ran until the late evening. Even as a kid I can remember all of us gathering at the table and eating and talking all day long. Of course, being the youngest I had the least to say. But, looking back I can see how important this was to everyone and how they all bonded on this day as they prepared this big meal together, sat down at the table at the same time to eat it, and socialized for hours afterward on some very full stomachs.
The “trend” seems to be that there is less importance placed on these social gatherings and relating and sharing with others. What has happened that has people coming and going in shorter spurts, spending less quality time with loved ones, focusing on their gadgets rather than the conversation, etc???
And, with this new trend, the stores are taking advantage of an “opportunity.” By being open on Thanksgiving, we’re again taking away from the few moments that we could be spending with family and loved ones… moments when we should not have to stress or think about anything other than enjoying each other’s company. But, from the stores’ viewpoint, there are people willing to shop on this day so there’s money to be had.
Throwing ourselves into high discount/high stress shopping situations on a holiday is a far cry from the table gatherings I remember as a child. Unfortunately, how do the stores compete? When one decides to open and get the competitive edge, the others either follow, or miss out. And, once it’s over, there’s no way to get this back. The only win for businesses is if there is some agreement across the board that nobody does it. And, then we can all go back to eating turkey. Until then, the people that despise the stores being open on Thanksgiving will remain miffed. They can do what I do. Pour a glass of wine, watch the football games, and be grateful they’re not out there in that mess. Everyone has a choice.
What do you think? Should Stores Open on Thanksgiving?
