In 2013, we were scandalized that retailers rolled back their opening times, kicking off the Black Friday festivities as early as 6 A.M. on Thanksgiving Day. Not everyone found this idea horrifying, though, because retailers reported record Thanksgiving weekend sales last year. In their desperation to boost sales somehow by the end of 2014, experts in the industry say that America’s retailers are going to ignore that whole idea of a Thanksgiving holiday again this year.
“You’ll see retailers come up with all sorts of tactics. It’s going to be an extremely challenging holiday,” one expert told the Wall Street Journal, striking fear into the hearts of retail workers everywhere. Yes, one of those tactics will be opening early on Black Friday. No retailers have announced their plans yet, but experts told the WSJ that they anticipate some will try the early-opening trick.
Of course, the executives, consultants, and marketers who came up with this nonsense will probably be all cozy around the dining table with their families, but front-line staff won’t be. If, say, the manifesto-writing CEO of Sears Holdings, Eddie Lampert, would pitch in for a little while on Thanksgiving morning at the Kmart store nearest his Miami home, maybe stocking some shelves or corralling carts while being followed by a camera crew, we would be a lot less critical of this whole idea. Providing a turkey dinner last year was really nice, but why don’t the bosses get out there and at least pretend to care?
Expect Retailers to Open Even Earlier This Thanksgiving [Wall Street Journal]
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