14 Greedy Companies That Are Forcing Employees to Work on Thanksgiving & 17 or 19 Refusing to Do So

20 Stores That Refuse to Open on Thanksgiving

    115K   Share   

Alvin Ward

filed under: holidays

14 Greedy Companies That Are Forcing Employees to Work on Thanksgiving

Plus, the stores that are giving their workers off for the holiday.>

In recent years, the Black Friday craze has inched further and further into Thanksgiving. With stores opening as early as 5 p.m. on Thursday, festive dinners are being overshadowed by shopping frenzies. Retailers like to point the blame at consumers—in a survey last year, 38 percent of shoppers said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving—but opening a day early also runs the risk of cannibalizing sales that could have been made on Friday. Furthermore, with stores open the day before, the idea of going shopping in the middle of the night for already picked-over merchandise seems unnecessary.

But there are still stores that allow workers to stay home and enjoy the holiday. Here are some of the bigger retailers that will be closed on Thanksgiving.

1. DSW

Getty Images

DSW issued a statement on their Facebook page explaining that they believe family comes first. As a result, they are closed for Thanksgiving, and not opening until 7 a.m. on Friday.

2. COSTCO

Getty Images

The warehouse club has always had a reputation for being good to their employees. This Thanksgiving, the nearly 127,000 Costco employees will have the opportunity to spend the holiday with their families.

3. NORDSTROM

Getty Images

Last year, the retailer distributed flyers that explained, “We won't be decking our halls until Friday, November 29. Why? We just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time." They're continuing that tradition this year as well.

4. DILLARD'S

Wikimedia Commons

A Dillard’s spokesperson told ThinkProgress, “We choose to remain closed on Thanksgiving in longstanding tradition of honoring of our customers’ and associates’ time with family.”

5. BJ'S

Getty Images

BJ’s Wholesale Club has confirmed they will be closed Thanksgiving. Last year, their CEO told HuffPost, “maybe call me old-fashioned, but I feel that it’s an easy decision to make [to stay closed on Thanksgiving].”

6. BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY

Wikimedia Commons

The retailer made a point of staying closed last year, as well.

7. REI

Wikimedia Commons

REI confirmed with ThinkProgress that they will be staying closed this year.

8. AMERICAN GIRL

Getty Images

9. CRATE AND BARREL

Wikimedia Commons

10. JO-ANN FABRIC AND CRAFT STORES

Wikimedia Commons

“Out of respect to our Team Members and their families, Jo-Ann stores will not be open Thanksgiving Day,” explained Travis Smith, chief executive officer and president of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. “We ask a lot from our Team Members during the holidays, and Thanksgiving Day is a valued tradition for many families. We believe it is important for our Team Members to be able to spend this time with their loved ones.”

11. T.J. MAXX

Getty Images

"We feel so strongly about our employees spending Thanksgiving with their families," says spokeswoman Doreen Thompson. "And we don't anticipate this changing in the future."

12. MARSHALLS

Getty Images

Marshalls, like T.J. Maxx, is owned by TJX and will therefore also be closed.

13. PIER 1 IMPORTS

Getty Images

Pier 1 traditionally decides to stay closed for Thanksgiving.

14. PUBLIX

Getty Images

15. SIERRA TRADING POST

Sierra Trading Post Facebook

The Facebook page Boycott Black Friday confirms that Sierra Trading Post will closed for the holiday.

16. BARNES AND NOBLE

Getty Images

Their website gives the following reason for staying closed: "We will be closed Thanksgiving Day, November 27 so that our booksellers can be with their family and friends. "

17. SAM'S CLUB

Getty Images

Sam's Club is closed on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

18. HOME DEPOT

Getty Images

Home Depot stays closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

19. PATAGONIA

When asked why, a spokesperson responded “It’s a holiday—we’re closed!”

(Radio Shack reversed itself, and decided that it would make Thanksgiving a workday for employees.

Wal-Mart Strike Set to Go on Black Friday, 2012

First, CORE in the Chicago Teachers Union; now, organizing in Wal-Mart, the United States' largest retailer. Is this the new dawn of union activism?

THANKSGIVING, November 22, 2012 update: The strike is still on: WPTV, West Palm Beach, FL ABC affiliate: Walmart Black Friday 2012 strike, protest, walkout update: Workers get ready for massive protest"

From Josh Eidelson, The Nation, November 20, 2012: "Worker Group Alleges Walmart 'Told Store-Level Management to Threaten Workers' About Strikes"

From Nick Copeland and Christine Labuski, Daily Kos, November 20, 2012:

"Behind OUR Walmart’s Black Friday Strike" bynick copelandFollow 72
PERMALINK 17 COMMENTS / 0 NEW

People curious about what is behind the Wal-Mart Black Friday strikes planned by the members of Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart, (OUR Walmart) consider the story of Cayt Lawley.

We interviewed Cayt today to share her story about life as an OUR Walmart associate. This diary was co-written by Nick Copeland and Christine Labuski

People curious about what is behind the Wal-Mart Black Friday strikes planned by the members of Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart, (OUR Walmart) http://forrespect.org/... consider the story of Cayt Lawley. Cayt, who is 22 and has a high school education, worked for three separate Walmart stores over a total of almost three years; the most recent was in Searcy, Arkansas. Although her wages never broke $9/hour, and she believes that a manager’s refusal of her request for light duty led to a miscarried pregnancy, she loved the family vibe at Walmart almost as much as she loved serving its customers. Ironically, it was only after hearing negative things about OUR Walmart during a store training session that she researched them online. And she liked what she saw: demands for an across the board raise to $13/hour, more affordable health insurance, full-time hours, and predictable scheduling—in a word, respect.

After being an underground member for months and educating herself online about her rights as a worker, Cayt eventually “came out” to her manager, a necessary step to gain support from the organization. At first, Cayt questioned whether the $5 monthly dues was really worth it, her suspicion fueled by managers’ aggressive portrayals of unions as “greedy” organizations from whom her “money and signature” needed to be protected. Later, when angry about having been passed over for a 40-cent raise after a questionable performance evaluation, she turned to OUR Walmart for advice, which they provided. Afterwards, she trusted OUR Walmart as an extra support group in the Walmart family.

But she discovered that membership in OUR Walmart was not without risks. She began to notice extra attention from managers, who scrutinized her work for small mistakes. She was eventually fired two weeks after attending an OUR Walmart demonstration at the company’s headquarters in Bentonville this past October. Managers cite performance issues, but Cayt is certain she was retaliated against. She is now fighting to be reinstated in her previous position, and joining OUR Walmart’s call to stop retaliation against their members. http://makingchangeatwalmart.org

Wal-Mart claims that they provide good jobs, and paint Cayt and other members of OUR Walmart as a disgruntled minority, propped up by self-interested unions. But OUR Walmart members insist that their demands are widely shared by co-workers, many of whom are afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs; Cayt herself knows several silent OUR Walmart sympathizers who remain too frightened to talk. Both presidential candidates in our most recent election promised “good jobs.” But at $7.95 per hour, the wage she was paid when she was fired, Cayt’s annual salary (assuming a 40 hour work week, a schedule that Walmart often promises but seldom delivers) amounted to $16,500—hardly a route to the middle class.

Stories like Cayt’s, not union manipulation, are behind OUR Walmart. Walmart workers belong to a society that promises its members inclusion in the middle class and social mobility through hard work. Hard-working Walmart associates find that the ladder to success is broken, and that the vast majority of Americans are stuck at the bottom rungs. These are the faces of America, the hundreds of millions of low-wage workers who feel themselves locked out of the American Dream, in an era when the wealthiest Americans are doing better than ever. OUR Walmart associates are joined by warehouse workers, hyper-exploited but invisible components of the supply chain who are also organizing for better conditions. http://www.warehouseworker.org/

If, as many have suggested, Walmart owes their remarkable success to society’s failure to fully deliver on the American Dream, then OUR Walmart owes its success to the hollowness of Walmart’s promise to make that same dream available to all of their associates. The Black Friday protests do not only concern Walmart workers; they speak to the concerns of everyone struggling to earn a living on hourly wages in an increasingly unforgiving and unequal economic system, one conspicuously marked by a decline in union power, on the one hand, and the skyrocketing of CEO salaries, on the other. Labor rights issues affect not only American workers, but manufacturers throughout Walmart’s global supply chain, who are squeezed by Walmart’s extraordinary buying power to produce goods at extremely low costs. As you shop for the holidays, please remember millions of employees like Cayt, whose meager earnings and uncertain futures may make our Thanksgiving dinners and gifts less expensive, but undermine the spirit of the season.

Nick Copeland and Christine Labuski are anthropologists working in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech University. They are also the authors of The World of Wal-Mart: Discounting the American Dream
TAGS
Black FridayLaborOUR WalmartWalmart