Stores starting Black Friday on a Thursday interferes with Thanksgiving.| Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In America, Black Friday has become much like the Hunger Games. Depending on how much time you give up with your family, the odds will be ever in your favor.
Historically, there have been fights, deaths and thefts, all in the hopes of getting a deal.
Wal-Mart is no stranger to danger. This year, Wal-Mart shoppers will see many deals and deeper inventory levels, but the guarantee as to whether or not one will actually be able to obtain these deals is still non-existent.
“Our customers can count on us to deliver three things on Black Friday – we’re offering amazing prices, we bought deeper on the gifts they want, and we simplified the shopping experience in stores and online,” said Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer, Walmart U.S.
The in-store shopping encounter for the consumer will still be a war zone that starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Thankfully, with the safety concerns of previous Black Fridays, places like Best Buy have ensured a first-come-first-serve ticketing process that has minimized much of this.
But this has also led to consumers camping outside, and employees forsaking the Thanksgiving experience with family to work the early hours of store opening for the many that wait patiently for “Door-Buster Deals.”
Best Buy spokesperson Shane Kitzman said, “From the high-fives we give customers as they come in the door to the ticketing system that ensures those who have been waiting in line get the gift they’ve been camping out for, making the shopping experience smooth and enjoyable for everyone.”
Although the ticketing system ensures a safe and orderly transaction process, companies like Home Depot try to build a more emotional connection to their customers to hype the event to be a family affair.
“One thing we do strive to do differently than other companies is we go out there, interact with customers and provide people in line with coffee and donuts. We really want our customers to know that we appreciate them spending their hard-earned money with us,” said Home Depot Store Manager Rondon Redford.
Home Depot is taking steps to set them apart from other retailers also by opening at 6 a.m. on Thursday.
“I think this helps the culture of the Home Depot. (We want) to set aside time for associates to enjoy their family,” Redford said. “Home Depot stands behind the values of taking care of our people.”
Other retailers also have made it a point to ensure families get to see their loved ones on this holiday, like GameStop and Staples who plan to “open later on Friday, but plan to remain closed on Thanksgiving,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
It is imperative that Black Friday remains an experience on a actual Friday and give the consumer and employees a chance to experience what Thanksgiving was actually intended for, food and family.
Opinion columnist Phylicia Davidson is an English senior and may be reached at [email protected]
Gray Thursday … as I’ve come to call it. Is nothing but competition pure and simple between retailers. Imagine if we had that same notion in our healthcare system (like being able to sell policies across state lines). With Obamacare forced upon us … it’s liked we are being forced to eat our lima beans by our parents. I still loath lima beans even to this day. Of course our parents didn’t force feed us lima beans, but Obama has force fed us a penalty upon us for not choosing his SocDem lima-beaned ObamaCare plan. Which no one can possibly afford the premiums much less the outrageous deductibles.
I might have digressed a bit, but Black Friday on Thursday has been in the works for a while; forcing companies to find new and innovative ways to get ahead of the competition. And with all these thousands of forced Obama regulations on businesses, which SocDems expect companies to sit down and take it, and cry for more. Well, something has to give. Either adapt or close up shop.
All these SocDems like Organite and GunFreeUH are kool-aid drinkers for Obama Policy … and they truly believe that Obama has created a utopia; and if you disagree with SocDem policy in any way … you must be eliminated. They would have made great informers for the Stasi, NKVD, Gestapo, or even Pol Pot.
I will definitely be taking schadenfreude when they find out that their worthless degrees are not paying well in Obama’s economy; if at all.
Bob, first I agree, it is a competition but what I find funny is that they offer these massive discounts and yet still make tons of money. Which makes me think, just how much I am over paying on every other day of the year.
Now as for your Obama, rant. The plan was a Republican plan, first introduced my Gingrich and years latter implemented by Romney. Now let me say right now I don’t like the ACA, but lets be honest here and own the fact that if this plan had been put forward by a Republican president the RepCons would be all over it saying its the best thing since sliced bread.
What we should have done is a single pay system, instead of a mandatory purchase of private insurance. What we had before was a joke and what we have now does not go far enough and only benefits the insurance companies, *yes it does and that is why the lobbied and poured so much money in backing it*.
Bob, I promise I will help deprogram you from the RepCon Koolaid you have drank from. *grins*
Single payer equals the UK’s NHS … and you’ve heard the bad things about Britain’s largest employer.
What’s wrong with a little personal responsibility in people handling their own affairs.
SocDems see us, and especially the poor as little children. Who are never encouraged to get out there and bust their tails in bettering their lives.
what is wrong with it? Look at what it was before the ACA. The poor and working class could not afford healthcare. Insurance companies could, and did, drop policy holders if they contracted a condition that was expensive to treat. They would deny expensive treatments and only pay for cheaper and less effective ones, and on and on and on.
Look if you want personal responsibility then let’ do away with the military, police and fire department and each of us be responsible then we could cut taxes to almost nothing. We have them because they serve everyone’s interest. A single pay National Health Care does the same thing. It will make for a healthier nation, not just for those that need it but for those that do not. Studies have shown we would be more productive and safer if everyone had quality health care. Why is it that RepCons are only willing to give money subsidizing Corporations that are already making Billions in profits each quarter but when it comes to the poor and middle class its a big middle finger and preaching self-reliance and personal responsibility? Where is that “self-reliance and personal responsibility” talk when it comes to them?
Hey my love handle Mama.
Before ObamaCare there were approximately 12 million uninsured whether they previous existing conditions individuals/families or simply didn’t want to be insured.
Arguably, the obvious and more economically option that should have been made, was to develop a program just for those 12 million.
But instead the whole health insurance apple cart got turned over with the ACA. Initially insurance companies were forced to cancel millions of private health insurance policies, for those people who were self-employed, or whatever.
Next, the ACA legislation said that if employees work over 30 hours, they are required to have health insurance provided by the company. Hello 29 hour work weeks.
Now, with ObamaCare’s demand on businesses to make the healthcare adjustment, all of a sudden they’re forced to come up with money that simply wasn’t there, and adjustments had to be made … again the 29 hour work week. And that hurts families that are expecting a 40 work week to help make ends meat.
The same argument can be made when it comes to the $15 minwage. Many businesses especially the small guys today live paycheck to paycheck, and owners will got to the ends of the Earth to make sure their people are paid, while sometimes not even paying themselves properly. I wish sometimes that students were required to put themselves in the shoes of a business owner, and see some of the idiotic regulations that they are forced to comply with.
I wish you would reexamine your reliance on a single payer system. At what point does “the health of the patient” become patient denials “for the good of the nation.”
In January of this year, the model for ObamaCare, the UK National Health Service, cut six Breast Cancer drugs citing “insufficient value for money.” Now, if the Duchess of Cambridge presented with breast cancer, you could be assured that she would have access to all of those drugs if needed. After all the nation needs her Royal teets to nuture Britian’s future monarchs. But little ‘ol TB, who happens to live in London, and is a nobody except to her family and fellow students.
I knew something was up with Obama, when during his first campaign, there was one lady who had a very old mother, like 95 or something like that. Anyway, the lady needed a pacemaker, and the doctor went for it, since the old lady was a very active woman and had a healthy spirit for life.
The woman asked then Senator Obama, would his health plan cover a surgery like that, for old folks who have vitality in their old age. Obama’s response “take a pain pill.” And he went about explaining in a round about way why that procedure was not good for the nation.
I’m a firm believer in competition when it comes to healthcare. Single Payer gets fat and lazy just as SocDem politicians and establishment GOPers, and patient care suffers because of the lack of competition offered in the system.
And come on … can we really talk seriously about personal responsibility in our lives. Do away with the police? Really?
And snapping about the RepCons and Corporations … girl you’d be surprised how the SocDems have their hands in Wall Street.
I remember a Wall Street Journal piece years ago “Pelosi’s Tuna Surprise” which regaled their readership with American Samoa’s being exempted from a minimum wage increase. Why? American Samoans are worthy people, but once they dug deeper, they discovered that the Tuna Caners Starkist and Chicken of the Sea had their headquarters in Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco’s district.
Now please tell me about RepCon Corporate corruption again.
Love your handles.
Bob,
I was serious about my remarks about responsibility, yes it was ridiculous but the point is still valid in that health care is just as important as the military or police to society. Remember what you call Obama care was a RepCon plan that benefited insurance companies. It was not based on any European plan whats so ever. Don’t confuse the Democrats with SocDems.They are closer to RepCons than they are to SocDems. Since the 90s I would hard pressed to name more than 5 democrats that are even liberal!
But I digress, Competition would be good, if it ever existed but the health insurance companies (matter of fact all insurance companies) self regulate their rates, they conspire so that they don’t have price wars. Add into that mix that so much of the cost of health care is overly inflated because the average citizen can’t afford it and so when they have an emergency they can’t pay and those costs have to be covered you have prices through the roof.
A single pay would benefit small business the most as suddenly they would no longer need to provide insurance for their employees. And sweetie come on, no business that has salaried, 40 hour a week, employees is going to suddenly reduce their hours. Hasn’t happened and isn’t going to.
A single pay system would lower the costs of healthcare, everyone would be covered, employers would no longer have to pay more for insurance and thus would see an immediate increase in profits. Tell me how any of that is NOT a good thing? Would it be perfect, of course not, nothing is perfect except my love handles.
It’s funny, because it seems the people being “eliminated” these days are the ones who don’t agree with fundamentalist conservative perspectives.
And I love how even in an article about Black Friday you somehow arrived at the typical conservative rhetoric and political conspiracy and even mentioned me by name.
I hadn’t realized I had gotten to you so easily just by having a good bit of fun at your expense. It’s okay though, I got you a nice new tin foil hat for Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you Organite … I almost forgot you existed. Send my gift to the nearest homeless shelter … they can use the tin foil for the upcoming Christmas feast.
Your OP seems to indicate otherwise. It’s okay. You don’t have to admit you missed me.
Just meet me under the mistletoe later.
If you look like TB all those years ago … I just might … providing you are female … and have had all your shots, brush your teeth at least twice daily, shave your underarms, etc.