Wal-Mart to start Black Friday 2012 at 8 PM THANKSGIVING night

[XCashier]

there's only one way to stop it... no one show up.

Celebrate Buy Nothing Day! Spend time with family and friends. Read a good book, watch those movies you've been meaning to watch, go outside and enjoy nature. There are so many things we can do with our time that don't involve spending money on crap we neither need nor want.

[HawaiianShirts]

Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. I wrote an unfriendly letter to several retailers when I first noticed that they were opening at Midnight on Thanksgiving Day, but I know my letters were ignored. (I didn't even get form responses to most of them.)

I've thought about this. I don't think I'd mind so much if the corporate suits worked the same hours that they force their employees to work. Or in the same conditions. If Black Friday is that important, the managers at the home office should put on a polo, pick a store, and come work the lines or the registers with the rest. We all know that won't happen, and they'd be grossly incompetent anyway, but if there were any justice in retail...

I don't shop at Wal-Mart as it is. I do shop on Black Friday, now that I don't have to work it, but I go during normal business hours, and I go to locally-owned shops and small businesses. Nuts to all the big boxes that day.

[PepperElf]

Wonder what it would take to get every retail worker scheduled for Black Friday to refuse to work.

Probably the government making it illegal to open retail on black friday

The problem is, that wouldn't happen. And if it did, well... at my last job they once hinted that they could replace my entire department. or rather, it wasn't much of a hint. supposedly they've done it before at other branches.


I never go out at o-god-too-early for those black friday sales. back when I was in the Navy I usually stayed home unless I had duty.

Now that's not to say I've not gone shopping but... usually it was for groceries, or something very late on friday evening.

Last year was the first time I've shopped on Friday. After I got off of my shift, my bf picked me up and took me to lunch. Then we hit a couple of stores before going home. At that point I rather felt like I'd earned the right to shop a little.

One of the clerks was a bit jealous of my schedule - 11 to 1130 - until she realized I didn't mean a half-hour shift... but rather a *twelve* and a half hour shift. heh.

[Dracalous]

Just learned I'm working 4:30am to 1:30pm this coming Black Friday. And 10am to 6pm Thanksgiving. Fuck.

[Food Lady]

I sent out an email to everyone I know about my hours, and yet I'm getting texts asking what I'm doing for Thanksgiving. Duh--sleeping.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I should probably point out Walmart's 8 pm opening doesn't have doorbusters for electronics. Those begin at 10.

Some stores, however, will do all their doorbusters before then. Such as the swamp. We open at 9.

I have a feeling it's going to be absolutely batshit. I will be running the show in housewares this year. A daunting task to be sure, but I prefer to think of it as a vote of confidence from management.

[mikoyan29]

I will never understand the mentality of this.

Surely at 8pm on Thanksgiving night, most people are stuffed with food, sitting on their couches and enjoying a few drinks. Who in their right mind thinks "This would be a great time to go to Wal-Mart!"

Thankfully in the UK we don't have a Black Friday in stores (the pub world has one in December) but if we did there is no way in hell I would go for one, no matter how good the bargain was.

You would be surprised.

[violiavampyr]

Sears is another one opening at 8 on thanksgiving. My bf is having to go in at 345am the day after, and several people are working the night before.
Ive never thought of it before, but movies and rental places have always been open on thanksgiving.

[Dracalous]

This will be the third year in a row I have worked on Thanksgiving. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since 2009.

[AnaKhouri]

Today on Talk of the Nation (a radio show on NPR) they were dicussing the Thanksgiving openings. Amazingly, most of the callers were pleased as punch to be able to work on Thanksgiving. Of course, most of the people they spoke to had necessary jobs (a farmer, a man who delivered medications to hospitals, etc). Only one retail worker was spoken to, and he complained that he had to eat dinner with with his family at 3 and leave immediately so he could try to sleep a little before he had to be at work at 10 p.m. The hosts asked if he volunteered to go in and he said no, it was mandatory for every employee to work a 12 hour shift on Thanksgiving/Black Friday and if an employee even called in sick they would be fired.

The hosts were silent a moment and then said something to the effect of, "OK, that would be annoying, they should let people volunteer instead!" and then went back to the love-fest. It surprised me a bit because TotN is usually pretty well-balanced.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I've been hearing/seeing Wal-Mart commercials about how Wal-Mart "has everything you need for Thanksgiving dinner."

I of course always add, "Except the time to actually sit down and enjoy it because WAL-MART STARTS BLACK FRIDAY EARLY!"