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Blackballing Black Friday: Target, Best Buy employees protest the earlier thanever, Thanksgiving-threatening sales

Each year, Black Friday draws hordes of bargain shoppers anxious to get a headstart on holiday gift-buying.
Photo by John Partipilo
Anthony Hardwick started a petition to push back Target's open time to a morereasonable 5 a.m.
Photo via Change.org

It's Thanksgiving week. As families around the United States make travel plans and perfect recipes for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, retailers are gearing up for a supersized Black Friday.

Sometimes it seems that the much-too-early start, the crowds, the blatant consumerism and the competitive rush sometimes bordering on outright violence outweigh the epic deals on electronics and toys. This year, some retailers announced that stores would open their doors at midnight, eliminating at least one of those deterrents.

But some retail employees aren't so enthusiastic about this cut into their holiday time. Anthony Hardwick, a Target employee from Omaha, Neb., initiated a petition to "Save Thanksgiving" and push back the store's opening time to 5 a.m.

According to Hardwick,

A midnight opening robs the hourly and in-store salary workers of time off with their families on Thanksgiving Day. By opening the doors at midnight, Target is requiring team members to be in the store by 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation — all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!"

The petition has received more than 190,000 signatures, but that's not slowing down Target's midnight opening plans. The store is even getting a lead on the early holiday sales with a four-day sale of pre-Black Friday deals.

Target isn't the only big retailer sullying the sanctity of the holiday. Best Buy employees are complaining, too.

Toys "R" Us will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and remain open 26 hours straight. Walmart opens at 10 p.m., with staggered specials throughout the night and into Black Friday.

Do you think that retail employees deserve Thanksgiving night off? Will you be hitting the deals at Black Friday turned Thursday?

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