Should stores be closed during the holidays?

I say no.

What say you?

Also good luck with black friday.
I hear that prices aren't really lower. But when you buy online, why bother?



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/petition-walmart-thanksgiving_n_2159251.html



Walmart is facing backlash over its decision to open its doors on Thanksgiving.

More than 30,000 people have signed an online petition on MoveOn.org asking Walmart not to make its employees work on Thanksgiving. Mary Pat Tifft, a Walmart associate of 24 years, started the petition after the retailer's announcement that it would open stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, according to a press release. Walmart opened at 10 p.m. last Thanksgiving.

“The company can afford to give its employees this holiday to spend with their families,” the petition states. “This early opening is one more example of Walmart’s disregard for its employees.”

Steven Restivo, a Walmart spokesman, wrote in an email to The Huffington Post that many of Walmart's workers are looking forward to the store's Black Friday festivities.

"The super majority of our 1.3 million associates are excited about Black Friday and are ready to serve our customers," he wrote.

Walmart workers are planning to strike at 1,000 locations across the country on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The planned protests come after the first-ever retail workers strikes at the company last month, which spread to stores in 12 cities.

Strikers claim that Walmart retaliates against workers who try to organize by cutting their hours or even firing them. Working as an associate at the store often offers little opportunity for advancement or boosts in pay, according to internal documents obtained by The Huffington Post.


Walmart, for its part, has filed a complaint against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union -- which claims it’s behind the strikes -- alleging that the protests constitute unfair labor practices. The complaint asks the National Labor Relations Board to stop the strikes, calling them an unlawful disruption of their business.

Restivo wrote in the email that the strikers' claims don't match up with the typical experience of a Walmart associate.

"Many of our associates have urged us to do something about the UFCW's latest round of publicity stunts because they don't think it's right that a few associates that are being coerced by the UFCW are being portrayed by the media as representative of what it's like to work at Walmart," he wrote.

Walmart isn’t the only major retailer that's angered workers by opening on Thanksgiving. Workers created multiple online petitions asking Target not to open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day so employees can have the holiday off. Toys R Us, Kmart and Sears are also opening on Thanksgiving, according to The Guardian.

 

Personally I think they should be open a few hours or half of the usual opening hours,but not all day long.
That's how the store I work in handles it,too.
Some people may not be able to really shop for groceries or gifts due to a busy work schedule and a holiday may give them that opportunity.

 

I say yes they should close. No one is going to starve or go naked if employees take a day off to spend down time celebrating a holiday. Consumerism has gone crazy.

 

I'd say "Yes." Let them close for the holidays, unless businesses are giving them some incentives, like double pay or gifts from the store for their working on that day.

People aren't machines and a lot of people have family to spend time.

 

Shop owners should be able to make their own decision on whether they open or close during any holiday (and employees not penalised for not working on the holiday, if they choose).
I don't think anyone should be criticised for choosing to open (or close) and it certainly should not be made law that they do either one.

I've always found it disgusting that all shops are closed on good friday here (shops are not allowed to open on that day unless they apply for, and are granted, an exemption...same applies on ANZAC day before 1pm). What of the people who aren't christian? What of the people who own small businesses (and aren't granted exemptions) and need every customer they can get? It's discrimination to not allow businesses to run just because of a holiday.

 

:shock:

 

The government doesn't dictate it here. It's popular opinion that mostly drives what's acceptable.

 

I think modern life is far too commercialized, but I don't believe stores should be prohibited from opening. I just don't patronize them.

 

It's not a big deal if they do. If you're lacking any basic necessities(not presents and turkeys n' shit), go to the convenience store.

 

That's what I did...picked up a few thinks at 7-11.

If the stores must open, I don't think employees who don't want to work should be punished. The holiday is more important to some than others. I know a fair number of people who would rather work on a holiday.

 

they have an option but they will have to pay that time and a half