MY DAY: SAVE THANKSGIVING

| November 29, 2013 | EDITORIALS, MY DAY | No Comments
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Dr. Ester Davis
Dr. Ester Davis

By Dr. Ester Davis

As Mistress of Ceremonies this wIs Thanksgiving the same? Do we need to save Thanksgiving? Should we move Thanksgiving back to its original date? Will retailers change their minds about closing on Thanksgiving Day? Costco, Radio Shack and Nordstrom are staying closed on Thanksgiving. But, some retailers have announced their Black Friday plans earlier than last year, and record numbers of customer are slowing up for the early sales with tents and pajamas. Black Friday has moved to Thursdays and the traditional turkey day trend is rapidly losing ground.

Disney Stores and Old Navy will open at 12:01 AM Friday morning. Kohl’s will open at 3:00 AM. J. C. Penney and Sears will open at 4:00 AM, and Staples turns on the lights on 5:00 AM. Black Friday is steadily creeping into Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. For the first time in its 155 year history, Macy’s New York, known for their Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, will open on Thanksgiving Day with marathon hours. Walmart, Kmart, Best Buy and several others are holding sales on Thursday this year. Target will open at 8:00 PM Thursday, Thanksgiving night, continuing non-stop through Black Friday. Consumers are taking notes. This year the shoppers are blasting the retailers for chopping up their Thanksgiving time. There are about sixty (60) petitions on line protesting the earlier hours for Black Friday sales. Some of the on line comments are thought provoking. One comments is “only in America can people run over each other one day after being thankful for what they already have”.

The total petitions have about 200,000 signatures for retailers to stay closed on Thanksgiving Day for obvious reasons. Obviously, this show of support is not nearly enough to turn the retail tide. Stores make 20%- to- 40% of their annual sales between Black Friday and Christmas. However, it is admirable that families still value their time together in America. Family is important. And while every day is a day of Thanksgiving, being together as a family is a precious treasure.