Around this time each year, we begin to see and hear advertisements about all of the deals and “great store hours” on Black Friday. Except there’s one catch: most of these companies are so hungry to make a profit, they open of their doors on Thanksgiving. So isn’t technically Black Thanksgiving?
Being a past retail employee, I have empathy for current employees, and a lot of resentment towards the company that made me scarf down my family Thanksgiving dinner and rush to work in the blizzard, all so some materialistic jerk can get the deal on the TV that they just “had to have.” I get it, it’s 2016, people are full of themselves and only care about the next-best-thing, or “getting a steal” so they can brag about it to their friends and coworkers when they return to work on Monday.
What’s really sad about today’s society is the selfishness and lack of morals people and companies have. Many people will excuse their Thanksgiving shopping with, “well the store is open, I might as well get the deal while it’s there.” Those people are the exact reason the stores continue to stay open, because people continue to spend their money and companies gain a profit! It comes down to economics: supply and demand, as more consumers shop on Thanksgiving, more stores stay open and extend their hours. If less people shop, stores will begin to open on Friday morning again (as it should be).
By shopping at stores that open on Thanksgiving, you are causing an employee to be missing an evening with their family. Save yourself the “I feel so bad that you’re working” remarks when you get to the register, because what you should be saying is, “I know I’m a greedy ass hole for being here, because if I wasn’t, you wouldn’t be working right now.”
If all of the companies decided that ethics were actually important, they would open on Friday morning. Dear Black Friday consumers: congratulations! You can still get your TV or iPad and brag on Monday.
Here are a list of stores that you should shop at this holiday season, because they respect their employees and the time they spend with their families:
- Mall of America
- Barnes & Noble
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Cabela’s
- Crate and Barrel
- Game Stop
- Home Goods
- Ikea
- Joann
- Marshalls
- Fleet Farm
- Neiman Marcus
- Nordstrom
- Office Max & Office Depot
- Patagonia
- Pier 1 Imports
- REI
- Sam’s Club
- TJ Maxx
And a list of the stores to avoid, because they care more about making a profit than they do about their employees:
- Walmart
- Target
- Best Buy
- Kohl’s
- Macy’s
- Toys R Us
- JC Penney
- Sears
- Old Navy
- Dick’s Sporting Goods
- Gordmans
- Michael’s
- Gander Mountain
Before you go out shopping on Thanksgiving, stop and ask yourself if you really need it, or if you’re just being greedy. And unless it’s a health item for an emergency, you’re probably just being greedy.
Comment if there is a company that is not listed!