I’ve always been firmly in the stores-should-stay-closed-on-Thanksgiving camp. For a few reasons, but mostly because I feel like it should be a day to reflect on what we currently have, not going out and purchasing new stuff. And also because I think employees should get to stay home with their families one day a year.
This is especially true for me as my husband has a job that typically requires him to work on all US-recognized holidays. If he’s lucky, he’ll get one or two off a year. This isn’t a big deal for us as we’ve learned to adapt and we’re grateful that he gets to use these comp days on vacations during other times of the year. But still: when most everybody is home with their families, he’s sitting in front of a computer screen in a virtually empty office building.
So, I was pleased to see this article today about stores that had made a conscious decision to stay closed on Thanksgiving, despite the probable loss of business. Here are places I’d like to patronize, I thought. Places that value their employees and also believe that Thanksgiving should be a time of reflection, not mad buying sprees.
And all was hunky-dory until I got down to the last paragraph in which a woman pointed out that many employees might be grateful for the extra cash that working on a holiday provides. Eek. Gratitude, yes, but for a completely different reason.
What do you think? Should stores open on holidays? Will you be a Thanksgiving shopper? What about Black Friday?
I am still stubbornly refusing to venture forth on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the entire weekend, for that matter. Unless we run out of ice cream. Then I’m changing my opinions on store closures immediately. :)
xo,
Sonja
