Feel the savings but regret not celebrating the holiday,
since you are not with your family on Thanksgiving but out shopping, just
because you see big deals from advertisements. Now days, people are beginning
to shop for Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving, which changes the meaning of
the holiday. Thanksgiving is a holiday for having family time together, a time
to enjoy each other’s company, and a time to remember one’s ancestors from the
past. A time for giving thanks for things in life.
Black Friday deals starting on Thanksgiving has helped
increase the amount of sales on the Black Friday weekends. According to
ShopperTrak, Thanksgiving this year, stand for 11.6% of the total holiday
weekend sales, when compared to the 3.6% last year. On Thanksgiving Day, there
was a total of $2.583 Billion spent on gifts. $2.583 Billion is about three
times the amount spent last year by Americans on Thanksgiving, according to
NorthJersey. Also, Bill Martin, the
founder of ShopperTrak, states that Thanksgiving hours helped produce more
sales revenue, which leads to the question if shopping on Thanksgiving is
helping boost the economy.
Many
stores offered big deals, just to lure shoppers, with little profit being made,
according to the Huffingtonpost. According to the National Retail Federation,
stores are making deals from hot electronic items to cashmere sweaters and
toys. But not every store on Thanksgiving was getting a boost in sales. Rahmattullah
Kareme, a fellow student, who runs the cash register at the electronics
department at Kmart, states that he only saw about 7 customers throughout the
day. Kareme states that Thanksgiving last year was busier than the Thanksgiving
this year, due to the Kmart closing, and there is less merchandise to offer to
customers.
According
to the Huffingtonpost, surveys showed that many people complained about the
early start, when retailers offered deals on Thanksgiving Day. Many people
still went out to shop for the deals. Josh Griffin, a student, who was going
out to watch a movie with his cousin on Thanksgiving, described the Colonie
Center and Crossgates as a “madhouse”, where people lined up
shoulder-to-shoulder and small crowds. Josh states that in some places there
were guards, who allowed people into the store after a certain amount of people
left the store. He saw many deals, like 50% off the entire store, free item
with a certain amount of purchases, and sales on clothing and electronics. But
not everything was on sale. Josh states that Thanksgiving should be celebrated
for the family time and be able to see relatives that live far away. Also, Josh
thinks that shopping on Thanksgiving would help boost the economy because of
the amount of spending on Thanksgiving.
An
anonymous source states that Thanksgiving should be celebrated, since people
can give thanks for all that they have. The source describes Thanksgiving as a
“magical holiday”. The source states that shopping on Thanksgiving would not
help boost the economy because there are no profits being earned from the great
deals that the stores are offering. But the source thinks that there has been
an increase in the amount of shoppers this year because of the early start in
offering deals than last year.
