News

Store employees balk at early Black Friday openings

November 15, 2011

Black Friday is quickly approaching as major retailers kick of the holiday shopping season earlier each year, hoping to be the first stop for Thanksgiving shoppers.

Not everyone is happy about it, according to a story in the New York Daily News. Many employees will have to skip their turkey dinners to be at work on time.

"It's unfair because everybody deserves to have time with family to get those cherished memories," Anthony Hardwick, a part-time Target employee in Omaha, said in the story.

More than 50,000 people have signed an online petition that he started on Change.org asking Target to move its Black Friday opening to 5 a.m.

Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said shoppers prefer to stay up late after Thanksgiving rather than rising early; the company is offering hourly workers holiday pay.

Best Buy, Macy's and Kohl's have also set their Black Friday openings to the stroke of midnight after Thanksgiving, and Wal-Mart opens at 10 p.m. on the holiday. Not to be outdone, Toys R Us announced its starting its specials at 9 p.m.

Read more about consumer behavior.