When I was growing up, the Christmas season began when Santa Claus waved to everyone from the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The following day, Christmas decorations would be up, and, hooray, it was Christmas time! Thanksgiving itself was synonymous with praising God for His provision, Pilgrims, turkey, family, football (although I don’t get that myself), getting together with friends, shopping. Wait – what was that last item? Apparently, in the new American consumer mentality, Thanksgiving means shopping! Insanity.
Are these retailers are so desperate for a buck that they have to open on Thanksgiving? Are these consumers so obsessed with spending money that they are willing to skip time spent with the special people in their lives, to forget about what’s important, truly important? I guess so.
Let me ask them a question – If you knew this was the last Thanksgiving you would be able to spend with mom, or Uncle Joe, or your child, would you get up from the table, fight the traffic and the crowds, spend more money than you needed to, just to get a new I-Pad you probably don’t need? I have spent several Thanksgivings in the company of people who I knew would not be with us the following year; those are the precious times indeed! THAT’S what should be important to us, not stuff that will probably break tomorrow, or the minute the warranty expires, whichever comes first.
So, I will NOT be doing any Christmas shopping at: WAL-MART, OLD NAVY, or sad to say, even my favorite store, MACY’S. Until such day as their CEOs, presidents, and chairmen of the boards are working on Thanksgiving Day alongside your sales people and retail staff, I will not be seeing you on Thanksgiving. Until you grant your employees the same privilege to spend the day with their families as you enjoy, I will not give you the privilege of my business.
In the same respect, many thanks to retailers like Nordstrom who don’t even decorate for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving, to Costco, Barnes & Noble, and all those who realize what’s truly important.
Closed (as far as I can find out): Nordstrom, Barnes & Noble, Costco, BJ’s, Radio Shack, Burlington Coat Factory, REI, Sam’s Club, Patagonia, Sur la Table, P.C. Richard & Son, Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx, American Girl. So, let’s do our shopping at these places that know what’s important and what’s not!
Related articles
- Stores closed on Thanksgiving (nwcn.com)
- 9 Stores Keeping Doors Closed on Thanksgiving (newsplex.com)
- Costco refuses to open on Thanksgiving (kshb.com)
Jacquie's World 
Right on! Thanksgiving is a family day and I just wish we could keep it that way rather than accede to the demands of capitalism. There is time enough for shopping after Thanksgiving. In the beautiful words of Ecclesiastes, “to every thing there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Amen!