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Black Thursday? The new start of the holiday shopping season?

November 19, 2013 By Kelly 12 Comments

 

The holidays are approaching, but it seems stores roll out their products and gifts earlier and earlier each year. Now Black Friday doesn’t start at midnight-it starts the evening of Thanksgiving when stores like Walmart, Target, malls, and more open early.

For workers this means Thanksgiving is just another work day, and it’s unlikely that the will get to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. For shoppers this means their marathon shopping starts earlier this year, and Doorbuster deals are going earlier than ever.

I am not typically a Black Friday shopper since many of the deals aren’t worth the wait in my opinion, but I have ventured out with friends like last year when I went to Target with 3 friends. It was refreshingly empty and I managed to find some great deals.

While I love the holidays and we tend to start decorating early so we can enjoy it longer I worry that this holiday creep will eventually cause stores to be open all day on Thanksgiving-taking away precious family time that we all need.

What do you think of stores opening on Thursday? Bad news since you work in retail? Good news since you don’t have to stay up late?

Update: While some stores were listing 8pm open times, many now have early morning open times and plan to be open ALL day on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Kelly

About Kelly


Kelly Whalen is the founder and editor of the Centsible Life. She started the blog in 2008 as her family faced a mountain of debt and the fixer upper they purchased became a FIXER UPPER. The website was born out of her desire to share what was working (and what was not) on her family's journey to financial security. Kelly lives in Minneapolis with her family.

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Filed Under: Holiday, Shopping Tagged With: Black Friday, Holiday, Shopping, thanksgiving


Comments

  1. Julie says

    November 26, 2013 at 9:33 am

    I def agree that it is too out of hand. Whether people “think” they need it or not, everyone needs a break to relax with family and friends. Do people forget that 50(ish) years ago that stores were closed on Sundays?!

    I’m sure Europe (especially Italy with month-long siestas off) are laughing at our ridiculous consumerism.

  2. Jo-Lynne Shane says

    November 22, 2013 at 6:44 am

    I’m seeing ads for Walmart and Kmart opening at 8am. Okay, I will concede, that is ridonkulous. Only grocery stores and hospitals should be open at 8am on a holiday. Grief!

  3. Kelly says

    November 21, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    Boo. 🙁

    I just read something that said that some stores are opening at 6 or 9 AM! So yeah, the whole Turkey Day thing won’t be happening for those folks.

  4. Jo-Lynne Shane says

    November 21, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    I’ll be in VA this year. 🙁

  5. Kelly Whalen says

    November 21, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    I agree there is an element of choice, but as I touched on above I think there are some income inequality issues at play. While I ADORE Target (and have even worked there!) retail workers aren’t always given the choice. Sometimes you have to work because you aren’t senior enough to take time off or you’re a seasonal employee. So it’s not always a choice-though I will say in my experience MOST people are there by choice, and getting paid overtime certainly doesn’t hurt!

    The turkey is done in our house around 3pm so 8 isn’t that crazy, but my thinking was for workers they have to arrive earlier on such a hectic day (often an hour before-sometimes more) and shoppers will inevitably camp out starting Wednesday night! Again, their choice for sure, but I think there are other issues at play here as well.

    And I appreciate your two cents! Are we going out again this year? It was much more fun with friends. 🙂

  6. Kelly Whalen says

    November 21, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    Like I said I tend to agree. I did find some great in store deals at Target last year that I was mostly happy with, but I tend to worry less about the deal than purchasing the right item. Like choosing a lesser quality item because it’s a ‘deal’ versus buying something for a few bucks more that will last twice as long.

  7. Kelly Whalen says

    November 21, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Having worked retail I can say generally you’re correct that people choose, but there are folks who don’t have the days off to request off and are scheduled to work. It’s not as simple as saying you don’t want to work that day unfortunately.

    I agree that the focus on consumerism is somewhat maddening, and while it may seem like a different topic I think it’s connected. Many people use Black Friday, Cyber Monday et all to purchase things for themselves that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. From my mostly comfortable middle class desk I’m all too aware that those items are not all ‘wants’ they may be items like a new laptop that someone needs to further their studies/career. I think it’s part consumerism, but it also is partly that we’ve set up a large portion of our population to not earn enough to enjoy the occasional want or need without having to go through that madness.

  8. Jo-Lynne Shane says

    November 21, 2013 at 6:39 pm

    I’m certainly not one to run out on Thanksgiving to shop but I also don’t think it’s the travesty everyone is making it out to be. For one thing, if people weren’t shopping, the stores wouldn’t be open. No one is forcing people to go out. Also, the workers get paid really well to work those hours, and some might really appreciate the extra income to buy presents for their own kids and family members. A lot of people are lonely on holidays and they often take the holiday shifts. And also, only speaking for Target, b/c I have a relationship with them, but they open at 8pm. In my world, the turkey is long put away by then. Of course, it might get earlier with each passing year… and maybe other stores open earlier, I dunno. I don’t really understand why everyone is getting worked up about it, though. Not that YOU are getting worked up about it, but since you asked, that is my 2 cents. 🙂

  9. Kelly Whalen says

    November 20, 2013 at 2:50 pm

    I clearly have mom brain. Lol.

  10. Julie Meyers Pron says

    November 20, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    haha! that wasn’t late afternoon! that was 7 am!!!

    I don’t rush out for Black Friday, but for some reason I naturally wake up early EVERY year anyway. So, a few times, I’ve snuck out and shopped. Last year I did really well at Target with you all. But breakfast was even better.

  11. erinmktgmama says

    November 20, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    The deals are NEVER worth it to be…whether it means getting up at 4am (um,no) or going out Thanksgiving night (BIG NO!). Besides you can usually find similar deals the entire next week or online.

  12. DonnaReedSteph says

    November 19, 2013 at 10:15 am

    I think it’s much. In a few years time, will it be “Black Week” and the deals start the SUNDAY before Thanksgiving, culminating in the BEST deals by Friday? Someone made a very good point that most people who work retail aren’t MADE to work, and many who opt to work are paid well. It is their choice to work, and for some, they may welcome the distraction because they don’t have family or friends to celebrate holidays with - or could really use the extra money.

    All that being said, I have a distaste for the commercialism and consumerism our country seems to be enraptured with, especially when we look at the disparity in other parts of the world. BUT that’s a different topic all together 🙂

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Hi! I'm Kelly Whalen, writer, frugality expert, debt slayer, and money nerd. Welcome to the Centsible Life, my corner of the internet, where I help women live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives. My goal is to help you save time + money, so you can spend both how you want.

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