Thanksgiving is a national holiday where families gather together and count their blessings while eating enough turkey to put them into a food coma. But with Black Friday sales starting earlier and earlier — ultimately encroaching onto turkey day itself, it seems to put the whole day at risk for many families.
The Garden State Plaza and Paramus Park malls just announced that they would be open on Thanksgiving, from 6 pm to 11 pm (The town of Paramus bans any store from being open during the hours of 11 PM to 7 AM). This is huge, considering the sheer number of retailers in those two massive malls. But it is also pretty shocking when you consider that both malls are in Bergen County, an area of the state that still abides by Blue Laws on Sunday, and keeps all their stores closed. (So preventing shopping on Sundays is important, but preventing shopping on one of the biggest family holidays of the year, isn’t?) It seems counter-intuitive.
It’s also pretty surprising considering a large number of retailers this year are taking the opposite stand, keeping their stores closed on Thanksgiving so their employees can be with their families. Stores like Barnes & Noble, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom, Costco, Crate & Barrel, DSW, HomeGoods, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Petco (and many others) have all opted to give their employees the day.
So what do you think? Are you in favor of stores waiting to open until Friday morning to preserve family time? Or do you think whatever is good for business (ie added sales from Turkey day) is good for the employees? ?