Kohl's and J.C. Penney joined the crush of stores breaking down the wall between Thanksgiving and commerce, with their announcements that they plan to open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
Granted, it was already a pretty leaky wall, with Toys 'R' Us, Target, Walmart, Sears and Kmart all opening on Thanksgiving Day last year. But with the announcements from Macy's last week and Kohl's Monday that they'll also open on Thanksgiving, the last bastions of retail resistance are crumbling.
J.C. Penney will also open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The suffering retailer had held out for a 6 a.m. Friday opening in years past, meaning it was one of the last stores in line for customers to shop.
"Obviously, we were one of the last to open (last year)," Tony Bartlett, J.C. Penney's executive vice president of stores, said in USA Today. But this year: "We're all in."
"As many customers are eager to get a jumpstart on their shopping, we are opening our stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day as a convenience to our customers who want to make Kohl’s their first stop," said Michelle Gass, Kohl's chief customer officer, in a statement.
"Shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has become a much-anticipated tradition enjoyed with friends and family," said Gass.
All of which means more people than ever before will likely be bolting from the Thanksgiving meal to wait in lines outside shops, or skipping dinner altogether. And more workers will miss their holiday, because they'll be prepping the sales floors for our arrival.
But, as Gass hints, perhaps no retailer can afford to stay closed on Thanksgiving anymore. If your customers are spending all their money at your competitors, they might not have any left for you if you wait until midnight or even (as stores did just three years ago) 4 a.m. Friday to open.
The early shopping rush still begs the question: Why go out and freeze your tail off on Thanksgiving day when you can shop online with your feet propped up in front of the fire, or football game? That's where I'll be with Amazon.com and my iPad. What do you think?
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2 comments:
I think I will be avoiding any retailer who insists on opening on Thanksgiving Day- not only on that day but everyday of the holiday season. Any retailer who will put profits ahead of their employees does not deserve my very hard earned money. I can guarantee you that upper management will not be giving up their holidays to help out the regular employees
I agree. I won't buy anything from a retailer that opens before Friday morning.
And I also look forward to the Nordstrom sign again this year. You know the one. "We at Nordstrom believe in celebrating one holiday at a time. Happy Thanksgiving."
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