Next week is of course Thanksgiving. And the day after… ‘black friday’. The day some retail stores last year opened at 4am to sell discounted merchandise in the hopes of turning the company books from in the red to in the black. However, retailers this year are deciding to open even earlier, with Target and Best Buy opening at midnight Thanksgiving evening. Walmart will open at 10pm Thanksgiving, and Toys R Us at 9pm Thanksgiving.
Some consumers love these deals, lining up outside the establishments to get cheap items. However, I fear both parties don’t take into account the repercussions of their greed. An online petition created by a Target employee and addressed to Target president and chief executive Greg Steinhafel calls on the company to “save Thanksgiving” by returning to the original Friday opening time. As of this writing, the petition has nearly 94,000 signatures. The petition is a symbol for just not Target but for all retailers cutting into valued family time on a national tradition. Workers have complained of the need to sleep during the day Thanksgiving just so they can be at work an hour before store opening and stay up all night.
I refuse to shop anywhere Thanksgiving, and Christmas day. I don’t get gas, or go to the grocery store, etc. Because if you believe that workers should be off on those two important days for family, you’ve got to stop going to the places of business during those times. I also don’t shop on black friday, I am not going to a store at 4am, dealing with traffic, crowds, stampedes, out of stock issues etc for crap retailers are trying to dump out of inventory. But some people do, and then some go just to see all the crazies.
Some people see cheap items and will fight hand over fist to get them. And people seeing cheap items and pouncing on them are part of what’s wrong with our economy. The big box stores would love for you to come in and buy up all their old model items so they can clear inventory space, even if they have to take a loss off the original purchase price. This entices people to come in the store at 4am, creating an artificial rush of the need to have some item on sale.
Your local Henderson merchants would like you to remember them for your holiday shopping. A reader sent us this suggestion, suggest to everyone to do your holiday shopping locally. Ok, you hear that all the time right? But how often do you actually do it? Maybe the reason is that you aren’t sure what items you’d like to send from the local shops? If all else fails, try this idea. Call up your favorite service company and ask for a gift certificate. Who do you know that needs a haircut? Needs some painting done in the house? Needs some power washing, lawn work, car worked on, electrical or plumbing work, taxes done, etc etc there are plenty of not only retail shops but also service businesses in Henderson that would be great Christmas presents.
I’ll post some articles later this week regarding some other articles published recently about a popular big box store and it’s effects. But for now, I want to introduce an offer for Henderson.
Any local business that would like to advertise an item or service or whatever for the start of the shopping season, simply write up an article of your business and offer or product and we’ll publish it for free. Please spread the word to your friends, employer, or consider this yourself if you are a business owner. We’ll run an article that you write and send to us on your product or service offering for no charge. Just write the article as you would like it published, and let me know the date to publish it. Give me 24-48 hours notice if possible. Be sure to include your business contact info, and describe the product your offering. Include a picture if you’d like. Email it to submit@homeinhenderson.com This will be similar to the normal paid article placement we offer, and we will keep it on our home page for at least 24 hours. (It will roll off to the next page as more stories are published, but I’ll be sure to extend the number of stories that show on the home page if needed during this time) Offer valid for articles that will be published on or before November 30th, 2011. May I suggest some incentive in your ad, for instance, “Buy one hour of xxxxxxx service and get 10% off by mentioning this ad on Home in Henderson.”
Welcome to the open lines!