On 10/25/2014 5:47 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:

Four major chain stores — Dillard’s, Burlington, REI, American Girl —
confirmed to ThinkProgress on Thursday that they will stay closed on
Thanksgiving Day as other stores begin to announce they’ll begin Black
Friday a day early.

In explaining its decision, a spokesperson for Dillard’s told
ThinkProgress, “We choose to remain closed on Thanksgiving in
longstanding tradition of honoring of our customers’ and associates’
time with family.” The other three didn’t elaborate on the reasons for
staying closed.

By contrast, last week Macy’s was the first retailer to announce that it
would be open on Thanksgiving Day, starting at 6 p.m. That’s the second
year in a row it has opened on the federal holiday itself, rather than
at midnight as it had in 2012. Walmart also told ThinkProgress that
nearly 1 million workers will have to report to work on Thanksgiving as
it will be open all day long. More are likely to make the same
announcement, as last year Kmart, Target, Toys R Us, Gap, Best Buy, and
a handful of others decided to follow Macy’s lead and begin Black Friday
on Thursday.

While the stores that open say employees are happy to volunteer and get
extra holiday pay, that may not be the whole story for everyone. The
United States is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee that
workers can take paid holidays. That ends up meaning nearly a quarter of
private sector employees don’t get them, including 45 percent of service
sector workers. On top of that, many retail workers struggle with
erratic scheduling practices that leave them without enough hours to
live off of, so they may be desperate to get the extra shifts. There
were also reports last year of Kmart workers who were denied their
requests to take the day off.

The stores that decide to stay closed and give their employees the
holiday may find they end up rewarded. Last year, half of consumers said
they disapproved of the early hours and the vast majority didn’t plan to
shop on Thanksgiving anyway.


*You are quoting George Soros' Think Progress. Are you aware of that?*