What do you think of Black Friday starting essentially on Thanksgiving night, as far as the impact on store workers?

It absolutely sucks for the employees. My sister just retired from a retail dept store job, and she could not say enough bad about it. But even without her comments, I know that retail employers mistreat their employees all the time. I expect no less of them.

Didn’t we just have this question?

I think the store should do what it wants and if Target workers think they can get away with a protest and keep their jobs, more power to them. I hope they do organize a union, but I doubt their protest will get them very far.

Diner is over so what is the big deal unless you were going away for the weekend.

The hourly workers I know personally actually fight for a chance to work every extra hour they possibly can. It is usually determined by seniority.

I worked during BF at Toys R Us, and it was the experience of a lifetime. People lining up to no end, crowded aisles, people screaming, shouting, and running all over the place….it sure as hell beats staying home and eating a turkey or whatever. I’d work on BF rather than stay home any day.

I think it sucks. Thanksgiving is a family holiday, not a day for retail stores to try to grab as much money as they can. My husband has an uncle that works for a retail giant and he has no choice but to go to work at 3 or 4 a.m. on Black Friday. If he has to go in on Thursday instead, he’ll have to leave Thanksgiving dinner early at his own house. If he had a choice of whether or not to work that day it would be one thing, but all of the employees have to be there. No other option.

I think it’s ridiculous and I wouldn’t shop at those stores.

I think that those weird hours ought to be offered on a volunteer basis. My place isn’t so bad: it’s practically a matter of policy to only be open during regular business hours, and hardly anybody wants to be at a wholesaler that day anyway.

I worked last Black Friday at Sam’s. The place was dead. I had been seriously contemplating fashioning a makeshift spear out of an oven spit and a broom handle, until I found out that all of the fun and games were next door at the Wal-Mart.
One of the things that I like about the place is that they still respect the classic family holidays. We close for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s, and have shortened days for the 4th of July, Labor Day, and a few others (Christmas Eve, maybe?).

Working in retail sales is like being a cook in the military. You have to plan at least two to three meals ahead and the same applies to retail sales. When a holiday rolls around, most retail sales employees have to work odd hours and days, in order to meet the customers wishes and demands. It just comes with the territory.

For five years, I worked security at Woolco Stores and I heard a lot of moaning and groaning from the employees, especially at a holiday time and having to work odd hours.

Most retail employess should have known this the day they took the job.

My 17 year old daughter works at Best Buy, and they are opening Thanksgiving night for the first time ever. She is scheduled to work a 12 hour shift, from 11PM on Thursday night to 11AM Friday morning. Obviously, she’ll be spending Thanksgiving day with family. She’s freaking out, and I’m none too please myself. When the hell is she supposed to sleep during all this? I think it’s terrible, especially for a kid in their first ‘real’ job. :/

@augustlan Aw, that’s terrible. I hope she gets through it ok. I can’t believe they’re making a seventeen-year-old work a shift like that. Sometimes my family has Thanksgiving early in the afternoon or even at lunch to accommodate people’s schedules. Is it possible to have an earlier gathering with your daughter so she can get some sleep before work?

The holidays can be such an exhausting time of year if you work retail. The employees wouldn’t have to be there if customers hadn’t created a demand for it. Employees can protest, but as long as there are people who need jobs and people who want to shop at these events, the stores will be open at these hours.

To me it just seems like a sad spectacle full of excess and greed. People are going to these great lengths to get things like electronics, fancy toys, and designer clothes- luxury items. None of the things at Black Friday sales seem like things people actually need, and seeing people pushing and shoving each other to get these things during the middle of the night makes me think our priorities are really messed up. The only way it will change is if there’s no money in it for the companies, and I think the whole thing is pretty heinous anyway, so I never shop at these sales.

This will be my 4th black friday at Best Buy. I’ve only had to be there at open twice though. Since I answer the phone, I only have to do a 10:30a to 10:30p shift.

It’s the nature of the beast. I hated having to wake up early to go to work, especially if I had to work at 10 or 11 thanksgiving night (as I would have to commute from my thanksgiving festivities to the store an hour and a half away.)

It sucks, but taking a job at a retailer, you sign up for it.