Thursday, November 24, 2011

End the Black Friday Madness!

Well, you can always shop at Amazon.

Or, well, see Robert Frank, at New York Times, "How to End the Black Friday Madness":

In recent years, large retail chains have been competing to be the first to open their doors on Black Friday. The race is driven by the theory that stores with the earliest start time capture the most buyers and make the most sales. For many years, stores opened at a reasonable hour. Then, some started opening at 5 a.m., prompting complaints from employees about having to go to sleep early on Thanksgiving and miss out on time with their families. But retailers ignored those complaints, because their earlier start time proved so successful in luring customers away from rival outlets.
Actually, Franks says a new national 6 percent sales tax on Thanksgiving would solve the problem. Typical, left-wing response, but that's not gonna do it. Consumers will decide. If shoppers don't like shopping on Thanksgiving then they won't shop. More on that at Telegraph UK, "Black Friday: most important day of the year for the US economy."

3 comments:

Mark Z. said...

"If shoppers don't like shopping on Thanksgiving then they won't shop."

But isn't that exactly the problem? It's incredibly inefficient for every store to drive themselves into opening earlier and earlier when nobody will shop—and it tears families apart on what should be one of the most family important holidays of the year.

RightKlik said...

uh... there's a problem here?

oh yeah,

If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

EF said...

There is a much bigger issue here! THE PEOPLE! Blame retailers all you want but the facts are.... people line up to shop. They even walk in saying stupid things like, "I'm so sorry you have to work... it's not right." then march themselves to the nearest aisle table and start shopping.

The american people themselves do not value family time or holidays anymore. They value shopping. With record sales and turnout; Black Friday is here to stay; and, chances are that every retailer will soon be open on Thanksgiving....ALL DAY.

Watch out, Xmas is next.