Capitalism Vs. Family Values on Thanksgiving, The 2015 Edition
America worships two gods: capitalism and family values. Nothing brings those deities into conflict like Thanksgiving. We want everyone to be able to spend that holiday with their nearest and dearest, and, at the same time, we want stores to be open so that we can buy whatever shit we need — including Christmas gifts for our own nearest and dearest — immediately and at the lowest possible prices.
It’s what you might call a paradox.
Last year, a number of stores decided to make a sacrifice at the altar of family values and close their doors over Thanksgiving, so that their staff could stay home. This year, momentum has been building, and more and more stores — including cheap-o favorite H&M — have made the same choice. Some of them are even remaining shuttered through what has traditionally been known as Black Friday.
H&M becomes the latest symbol of holiday restraint among retail chains. After years of expanding hours and piling on promotions during Thanksgiving and Black Friday — the traditional kickoff to the Christmas shopping season — many stores are now retrenching. Staples Inc. also will be closed during Thanksgiving. Recreational Equipment Inc., the outdoor-gear retailer, is going further and shutting down during Black Friday.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Inc., meanwhile, have been spreading out their promotions over a longer period. That means shoppers don’t have to line up at stores on Thanksgiving evening to get deals. Target said on Monday that it’s planning a 10-day holiday sale that will begin on Nov. 22.
This is great for pretty much everyone. I mean, who so desperately needs a spangled crop top and zebra print leggings that they can’t wait till the next business day?
It can be fun to wake up with a tofurkey hangover the morning after Thanksgiving, shake it off, and go holiday shopping with your relatives. For some people, prepping for Christmas that way is as traditional as the homemade dinner table centerpiece. But Black Friday has gotten way out of hand: there’s a death toll associated with it now.
I appreciate retailers’ attempts to tamp down the pre-Christmas low-price consumerist hysteria a bit and to make sure it doesn’t spill over onto Thanksgiving Day proper.
As a Jezebel commenter points out, the only accessible retail we need on Thanksgiving Day proper is a grocery store:
Totally unfair to the people working the cash registers, but there it is.
Here’s a full list of the All-American chain stores that are throwing their lot in with Family Values over Capitalism by keeping their doors shut on Thanksgiving Day. Good job, Barnes & Noble! We see you, Lowe’s!
Also included in that link is a list of the chain stores that are making their employees work instead of prep mashed potatoes and, soberingly, they’re the bigger players: Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R Us.
Keep all that in mind, maybe, while you do your holiday shopping. And, as always, try not to get trampled / do any trampling.
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