Now comes Walmart, announcing that it is pushing Black Friday up a full week. Based on prices leaked from competitors like Best Buy, Target, and Toys R Us, Walmart will be matching “selected” Black Friday specials this Friday, November 22.
Oh joy. Instead of nibbling away at Thanksgiving an hour at a time, Walmart has swallowed it whole and pushed the holiday shopping season up an entire week. Competitors will, of course, have to compete, so the shopping season will be off and running this Friday.
With the precedent established, I’ve no doubt that henceforth Black Friday will be the Friday before Thanksgiving and Turkey Day will be relegated to the status of speed bump in the midst of the hubbub, a grease spot in the mall parking lot.
And to think I was worried Thanksgiving might be gone in another five to ten years.
An optimist might suggest this will take the pressure off Thanksgiving and in the future it will become a welcome pause, a day of rest from the pandemonium of Christmas shopping. But I am not an optimist. With the stores open and Christmas specials to be had, I doubt people are going to “waste” an entire day at home dining with friends and family.
Sad how a single retailer has managed to shred so many basic American values.