Is Black Friday Shopping Taking Over Thanksgiving? [With Poll]

First it was Black Friday, then it became Cyber Thanksgiving and the latest manifestation is beginning to be called Black Thursday.  Whatever you call it, the holiday shopping season is coming sooner and sooner every year.  For retail stores, it's a chance to capture increased sales and profit in an uncertain economic environment. For families, it is becoming a time, and possibly even a values, conflict.

I grew up when stores were still closed on Sunday.  Yes, as recently as the 1980's, stores closed or had limited hours on Sundays.  But that is long gone for many stores, and it seems Thanksgiving is slowly dwindling away as well as rertailers eat into our precious hours with our families.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), this year's number of Black Friday shoppers is supposed to surpass last year's. The NRF is predicting a high return for retail stores through the use of online sales and social networking software like Facebook. “Social media will play a big role in how shoppers follow company sales announcements this holiday season,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at BIGresearch, a firm that conducted a survey of shoppers for the NRF.

A bag of tricks

“Though many retailers are already touting select Black Friday ads, there’s no doubt we’ll all be blown away by what retailers still have in their bag of tricks for shoppers,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in a press release.

“We fully expect to see excited shoppers as early as midnight at stores around the country, as many holiday shoppers would rather stay up all night to take advantage of retailers’ Black Friday deals rather than set their alarm to wake up the next morning.”

Shay's "bag of tricks" is pushing the shopping temptations farther and farther back into the holiday which has been celebrtated since 1863, and is causing shoppers and parents alike to be a little bit disgusted with the retail world and they are not afraid to tell you about it.

"I never shop Black Friday," said Windsor resident Kathy Kopacz. "I don't think stores should be open on Thanksgiving," she added. "The employees should be able to be with their families. It's one of the very few days that the stores are closed."  

Her concern for employees is felt by Erik Frederickson too. "As anyone who has worked retail can attest, Black Friday is the most horrible day of the year," said Frederickson. "It absolutely brings out the worst in people. The fact that greedy corporations are now forcing their workers to come in on Thursday is absolutely reprehensible," he added.

"Holiday? What holiday?" said Ken Mazotas, a dad of two young children. "Except for the grocery stores, Thanksgiving is an irrelevant day as far as retail is concerned.  They view it only as a set-up to one of their biggest paydays of the year," said Mazotas.  "Kind of sad."

These folks echo the feelings of many as retailers push their shopping opportunities farther and farther back into this family-oriented holiday time.

But there are also those who take a different outlook.

"If you are looking for something specific, then it is worth it to go out on Black Friday," said Windsor resident LaVon Woods. Woods sees the excitement in the whole shopping experience. "It's kind of cool to get everyone up in the morning, hanging out in Target or Walmart, then having breakfast together, then going back to sleep. I can't wait." 

Heather Gallinoto agrees. "I am headed out around 3 a.m. after the crazies, before the lazies who sleep until 5," she laughed. "I have been doing that the past few years, I go out but just behind the crowd and it is actually fun, and I usually get most of what I went for."

My Big Mistake

Personally speaking, I was always against it. Until last year. At 10 p.m., for some unknown reason, I decided to drive over to Toys R Us and get in line with 150 other very cold folks.  Once the doors opened and everyone poured into the store, it was really hard to move around without constantly bumping other folks and forget trying to take your time and look at a toy before you bought it; too late, it's gone! I will never do it again, people!

I walked away with the following new convictions: it's not worth it and I felt like I had been drawn into something I regretted later.  Personally, I felt I had been "punked," if you will.

Disgusting and reprehensible or not, the shopping still has to get done at some point. Never fear friends, there's always Cyber Monday.