Monday, November 24, 2014

Sixteen stores and three states where you can't shop on Thanksgiving

Rss@dailykos.com (laura Clawson)
 Saturday, November 15, 2014, 5:19 pm
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As Thanksgiving openings become a more and more common strategy for retail chains, and the openings get earlier and earlier, some companies are taking the opportunity to say a very public no to that practice. There's reason for cynicism, since these brands now get good publicity for doing the right thing, while avoiding what may not be a very profitable day despite the hype over "Black Thursday."
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But whatever the reason-and some of them surely do have their hearts in the right place-and however much it may suck that workers' holidays are not taken for granted but dependent on a decent boss, workers at these stores will not be told to come in to work on a major holiday, and that's something:
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Costco, famously a good employer, will once again be staying closed on Thanksgiving, with a spokesperson saying "Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Nothing more complicated than that."
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DSW's CEO was blunt about the shoe chain's plans:
This holiday season, you've probably seen or read about all the retailers opening their doors as early as 6:00pm on Thanksgiving Day. We have decided not to follow that trend. Instead, WE BELIEVE FAMILY COMES FIRST AND YOU SHOULD BE HOME CELEBRATING WITH THEM ON THIS SPECIAL HOLIDAY. This means none of our stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day. In addition no stores will be open before 7:00am on Black Friday.
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Barnes & Noble's spokesperson said "We want our booksellers to have the opportunity to enjoy what is a family holiday."
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Sur La Table: "Our people share a passion for cooking and entertaining with our customers on a daily basis. We want to make sure they can share that same passion with friends and family on the biggest cooking and entertaining Holiday of the year."
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T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post, which all share the same parent company: "We consider ourselves an Associate-friendly Company, and, we are pleased to give our Associates the time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends."
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Dillard's offered a similar rationale, that "We choose to remain closed on Thanksgiving in longstanding tradition of honoring of our customers' and associates' time with family."
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Other stores that will stay closed include American Girl, REI, Neiman Marcus, Patagonia, and Burlington Coat Factory, with some getting bonus points for issuing statements with an air of bewilderment about why they even would open, like American Girl's "this is not a new decision for us."
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The states of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island stand out, having blue laws that prevent most stores from opening on Thanksgiving across the entire state.
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