In years past, KMart has usually kept its doors open on Thanksgiving Day. Now other big name stores are following suit. WalMart, Michael’s, Toys R’ Us and a list of other retailers are hoping to beat the competition by opening a day before Black Friday.
"It’s sort of like an arms race. They began at 5 a.m. on Friday, then they pushed it to midnight on Thursday, now they’re pushing it back for most of them it’s 9 p.m. and for WalMart it’s 8 p.m.," said David Cadden, a management professor at Quinnipiac University.
Cadden says while stores are offering big deals to draw in customers, they’re also drawing criticism from their employees.
"For the first time, you’re beginning to see an anticipation that there may be demonstrations by WalMart employees, in effect a strike without a union," he said.
Not all shoppers are on board with the holiday hours either.
"I’m not sure it’s all that fair to the staff that’s working there. They don’t get to celebrate with their families," said Jillian Moffat of East Haven.
"I think a holiday should remain a holiday, and not open up just to gain more sales," said Mike Amato of Milford.
They say Thanksgiving is a time for family, not a jumpstart to the holiday shopping season.
"Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving, you know what I mean, I think everyone should be home and together," said Veronica Wisinski of Stratford.
