Walmart shoppers searching for sales. Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images
You know that bored feeling you get after dinner, when you've eaten as much pie as possible, napped twice and the dishes are all done? When there's nothing to do but watch old movies and recheck your shopping list for Black Friday?
Now, thanks to Walmart, you can get up off the couch and be ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving is even officially over. In a move to avert the unruly crush of shoppers that marred past Black Fridays, the retail giant is keeping their doors open around the clock at most of their stores from November 26 to November 27.
Traditionally on Black Friday, shoppers will line up hours in advance of early morning store openings, often creating a mob scene when the doors finally allow them inside. Each year seems to bring new stories of crowd mayhem, including a Walmart worker who was trampled by shoppers last Christmas.
This year, with the tough economy and tight budgets, analysts are expecting even bigger crowds searching for holiday sales and deep discounts. Walmart, taking a pragmatic approach, is simply letting bargain hunters come in and start shopping as early as they want. Another step they're taking to manage the anticipated crowd is to spread deals all over the store.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is this: Even though you can enter the store and line up for big-ticket items early, the actual sales don't begin until 5 a.m. Friday. So, if you're going Thursday night and plan to hang around for the sales, you might want to pack yourself a turkey sandwich!
Are you going to be a 3 a.m. Walmart shopper? Or will you stick with the DVD and third slice of pie plan?
Jolyne,11-23-2009, 1:41PM
In other words, if you plan to shop at Walmart when the sale starts at 5 AM, the good deals will already be gone because those who can wander around the store hours earlier will already have all of the available sale items in their carts!
With the good sale items in short supply, this deal says "why bother".
I am seriously thinking about staying home.
If stores would have a decent supply of the really great items, I would get up early and go.
Can you tell I am not a "morning person"?
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csi8299,11-23-2009, 5:32PM
I agree....sounds like there will be fights in the aisles, nice goin' Wal Mart!
csi8299,11-23-2009, 5:28PM
All stores should be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas day; no exceptions. The folks who have to give up their holiday to keep the stores open don't even get paid any extra. I worked on these days for years on salary so after busting my a$$ all month long to make sure everyone else got what they needed for a great holiday my reward was to not get a holiday myself and work the day FOR FREE !!
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Maryann,11-29-2009, 10:09AM
Such a shame, not only is it Walmart, but also Kmart, Gap, Toys R Us, Old Navy, Big Lots, Boscovs, to name a FEW.
Open on Thanksgiving Day! For shame. Corporate does NOT care about employees. Oh, they ask for volunteers, huh? What if not enough people volunteer to work that day? Then surely it is "Mary, you must work on thanksgiving Day.....oh, well, sorry, you may not go to church, we must make profits.....well, you will not be able to be with your family...."
But are all the top people going to church and spending the day with their families? Absolutely, of course!
I do not work retail, thank goodness. But I work full time, and part time, have a blind husband with other disabilities, as an only child I'm sole caregiver for my 85 year old dad who lives with us. And of course there are all their doctor appointments.. We have a house and a blind dog too. And despite this I have NEVER in my life entered even a grocery store on Thanksgiving Day. By the night before T-day, my pies are done (from scratch, including the crust), bread from scratch, stuffing from scratch, silver polished, linens ironed, and the house is immaculate (you could eat off the floor. well you could anytime).
Upon reading this year about so many more stores open this year, something came to mind, and I had to "rewrite" the popular Thanksgiving day song. Perhaps I'll do one for the song "Home for the Holidays" by next year. Please feel free to share this song with anyone, and, in fact, send it to the CEOs of all the stores that open on T-day
Over the river and thru the woods,
To my retail job I go;
Corporate knows the way
To ruin our day,
By making them filthy rich, oh!
Over the river and thru the woods,
Oh how can we bring them back!
Let’s sting the boss,
Bring back blue laws,
And close the stores all day-ay.
Over the river and thru the woods,
To get a mere pittance of pay;
Oh I wish I was home,
I’m so all alone!
A sad Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the woods,
Go corporates’ families!
Spring to the table
Carve the turkey, they’re able
But us--no Thanksgiving Day.
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Steve,11-29-2009, 2:19PM
I love to stand in line for hours to get a chance at a good deal from Walmart or any other store. Next year, the plan is for a maze of cattle chutes to hold sale shoppers. That way we won't hurt the crew.
Walmart should have sales that last from Thanksgiving until Christmas instead of this bait and run-out trick we fall for. If you can sell 20 items on sale and get 5000 shoppers in your store, things will never change.
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ARE YOU READY?,11-29-2009, 10:06PM
Walmart is a greedy slave owner that treats their "employees" the way old plantation owners treated their slaves before the Civil War. Holidays like Thanksgiving should spent with family and loved ones, not greedy slave owners. People need to send Walmart a message by NOT SHOPPING AT THEIR STORES. HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
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W VerWys,12-07-2009, 9:52PM
When do these shoppers give thanks for all the blessings they received?
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