Macy's To Open Thanksgiving Night; Workers Are Not Happy
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 14, 2013 1:40PM
Add Macy’s to the growing list of retailers eager to get a jump on the holiday shopping season by opening on Thanksgiving. The department store giant announced Sunday it will open its doors to shoppers at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, the first time in the company’s 155-year history.
On a local level Macy’s move will affect employees at its flagship store on State Street (the former Marshall Field’s or “Macy Field’s”), Water Tower Place and Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center. Macy’s on State Street employees told the Sun-Times the store will remain open for 24 straight hours.
Macy’s joins other retailers in trying to get a jump on the “Black Friday” sales rush. The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year for department stores—some retailers see as much as 75 percent of their annual sales in that time frame. But the scrum to add black ink to ledgers in recent years has left some with figurative and literal indigestion as retail workers normally accustomed to a night off have to leave the comfort of home and family in order to watch masses of people trample each other for the best deal on a Blu-Ray player.
Macy’s polled their workers earlier this month and, according to Consumerist, it isn’t even known if the poll results would be taken into consideration. Part of the survey read.
The Thanksgiving Holiday is also a critical time and we are counting on you to help make it successful. Your store will open at 8 pm on Thursday, November 28th. We would like to know if you are able to work an opening shift beginning at 7:30 pm on Thursday, November 28th.
One tipster told Consumerist, “My prediction is that soon (within the next few years) many stores will do away with thanksgiving time off for employees altogether. That way people can get back to focusing on what really matters most without the distraction of family or friends: money.”
It sure does seem like we’re on a fast track to that inevitability doesn’t it? This gives us even more incentive to shop online.