Just days after another Walmart launched the holiday giving season by placing a food donation bin for employees to help out their co-workers in need, some workers have placed a much larger bin outside the home of someone who makes a little bit more than $10/hour from the nation’s largest retailer — Alice Walton. [More]
black friday
Lewis Black Rants About The Expansion Of Black Friday
By 11.20.14
Most Americans don’t go shopping on Black Friday or on Thanksgiving Day, but it remains a popular topic for us in the media to yap about. This year, the increasing number of stores opening on Thanksgiving Day and growing controversy over the practice has prompted Lewis Black, professional ranter, to weigh in. [More]
Employee’s Daughter Asks Kmart To Give Mom Some Time Off On Thanksgiving
By 11.14.14
Should stores be open on Thanksgiving Day? Some businesses, such as hotels, gas stations, airlines, and even restaurants must be open to keep civilization running and make sure other people can get to their destinations and enjoy their holidays. Yet many non-essential businesses are open. Like Kmart. The child of one Kmart employee is unhappy about this, and wants the store to consider maybe giving her mom, a 21-year employee, the day off. [More]
Pro-Holiday Activists Protest At Mall That Will Open On Thanksgiving Day
By 11.14.14
There’s less than two weeks left until Thanksgiving Day, and consumers are beginning to learn which retailers will be open on the holiday so they can either plan their shopping trips or get very, very upset. Some people in Michigan have taken the “get upset” option, holding a protest outside of a mall that is scheduled to open at 6 P.M. [More]
Walmart Employees Once Again Planning Black Friday Protests For Higher Pay
By 11.14.14
Despite a Walmart executive’s generalized promise to eventually raise the wages for the company’s lowest paid employees, a group of workers have announced plans to protest the mega-retailer on Black Friday for the third year. [More]
Office Depot Will Open For 3 Hours On Thanksgiving Day
By 11.13.14
In another blow for that holiday that we used to call “Thanksgiving,” the newly merged Office Depot and OfficeMax will open for a few hours on Thanksgiving Day, delivering doorbusters to the masses from 6 PM to 9 PM, closing again until 12:01 AM on Friday. [More]
Two Black Friday Shoppers Have Been Camped Outside Best Buy For A Week Already
By 11.12.14
In the rush of retailers opening their doors for big sales on Thanksgiving Day, the idea of devoted Black Friday shoppers so determined to score deals that they’ll line up hours ahead of time might seem like it’s a thing of the past. Not so, as two friends who have been camped out at their local Best Buy for a week already in order to get the best possible spot in line when the time comes. [More]
RadioShack Revises Thanksgiving Plan, Will Give Workers Five Hour Break To Spend With Families
By 11.12.14
Yesterday, RadioShack announced that it would be opening at the early hour of 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, causing employees to complain about losing their holiday and many shoppers to ask why anyone would ever want to go to RadioShack at 8 a.m. ever. Now the Shack is changing its mind on that plan, but rather than simply opening later, the retailer will be closing for a few hours during the afternoon. [More]
Mall To Stores: Open At 6 PM On Thanksgiving Day Or We’ll Fine You
By 11.11.14
Last year, the Walden Galleria near Buffalo, New York welcomed shoppers at midnight on Black Friday. This year, they’re moving that start time back by six hours, and other malls owned by the same company, Pyramid Management, will be opening at dinnertime on the holiday as well. [More]
Best Buy Also Has Better Things To Do Than Eat Turkey, Will Open At 5 P.M. On Thanksgiving
By 11.11.14
We’ve been here before; it’s all so familiar! Ah, yes. That’s because we just wrote earlier today that RadioShack will open its doors at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and yesterday that Target would open at 5 p.m. and so on and so forth. Best Buy is here to join the club of businesses who have better things to do than gorge on holiday feasts and snore off into a happy slumber, and will be open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving. [More]
Target Opens 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, Says Black-Friday-Like Deals Start This Week
By 11.10.14
Who needs to wait for Black Friday when you can apparently start racking up similar deals weeks in advance? Target joined other retailers like Walmart in announcing its holiday shopping plans, which include early access to deals and opening the doors at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving night. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Opening At 5 P.M. On Day That Used To Be Called ‘Thanksgiving’
By 11.7.14
Are you looking forward to spending Thanksgiving Day standing in line and fighting with fellow shoppers over the last remote-controlled dinosaur? No? It doesn’t really matter whether you plan to show up or not: opening at 5 P.M. on Thanksgiving Day worked out for Toys ‘R’ Us last year, and they’re planning to do the same again this year. [More]
JCPenney Will Open At 5 P.M. On Thanksgiving Day For People Who Sort Of Like Their Families
By 11.5.14
JCPenney is apparently 11 hours less desperate for business than discount retailer Kmart, but 3 hours more desperate than it was last year. The department store chain announced today that it will open at 5 PM on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, it opened at 8 P.M. on the holiday. [More]
Kmart Will Open At 6 A.M. On Thanksgiving, Stay Open 42 Hours Straight
By 11.3.14
This year, Kmart is sticking with its dubious tradition and opening on Thanksgiving Day. Like last year, they’re opening at 6 A.M., and will keep the doors open for 42 consecutive hours until midnight on Saturday. Maybe if they keep the doors open for that long, someone will wander in. [More]
GameStop Decides To Give Employees The Day Off For Thanksgiving
By 10.29.14
GameStop is well known for often getting the jump on new video game releases by opening stores at midnight, so you might expect that the chain would be throwing open its doors as early as possible on Thanksgiving to get out ahead of the Black Friday competition. But today, the retailer announced that its workers won’t be enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner in between dealing with customers. [More]
Looks Like 60″ TVs Might Be This Black Friday’s Big Doorbuster
By 10.7.14
We’re still a little bit away from retailers “leaking” their Black Friday ads, so no one can say with certainty what bottom-dollar deals the stores will be using to attract shoppers away from their Thanksgiving dinners. One prediction for this year’s holiday season kickoff claims that 60″ TVs are going to be the most tempting bait, but you might have a hard time actually snaring that super-low price. [More]
More Price-Matching, Better Staffing And Other Black Friday Predictions
By 10.2.14
It’s October, and those falling leaves and brisk temperatures can only mean one thing — that no professional baseball is being played here in Philadelphia. It also means that the official start of the holiday shopping season is a mere eight weeks away. [More]
Dear Petco: If You Insist On Pushing Black Friday In July Promos, At Least Make It An Awesome Deal
By 7.18.14
If you’re getting an email from Petco trumpeting a “Black Friday In July!” promo that’s only serving to tick you off, you’re not alone. Consumerist readers Matthew and Kelso both forwarded their sighs along with a Petco email that is very, very excited about a not-so-great deal that just serves to make people cranky. Because it’s not Black Friday. It’s just Friday, in July. [More]
