Black Friday 2014: Macy’s Opens Early Thanksgiving Day At 6 P.M.

Just around the corner is Black Friday 2014, and Macy’s is opening early Thanksgiving Day at 6 p.m. Shoppers are gearing up for what’s anticipated to be a very good holiday season for retailers.

Macy’s confirmed to Huffington Post on Tuesday that its doors will open doors on Black Friday during Thanksgiving at 6 p.m., which is two hours earlier than they did last year. This brought a “war on Thanksgiving” controversy since many minimum wage workers were forced to leave dinner early for work. This year, those workers may not even have a chance to sit down with family to eat a nice meal.

A Macy’s spokesperson wrote an email to HuffPost informing them that nearly all of this year’s Thanksgiving shifts have been filled “voluntarily.” The email adds that those working the opening shifts on the holiday will get “incentive pay.” That reportedly means time-and-a-half for all shifts starting Thanksgiving night.

As The Inquisitr reported, Macy’s plans to hire 86,000 more workers for the holiday season.

USA Today reports that the same outrage over Macy’s opening early on Black Friday last year won’t happen for 2014. Steve Osburn, director at management consulting firm Kurt Salmon, tells the news source that consumers become more and more accepting of retailers opening early each year.

“Consumers have started to accept that shopping on Thanksgiving is a growing habit. With consumer acceptance comes more people shopping.”

Osburn predicts that in the coming years, the creep of Black Friday will be set to late afternoons for retailers to open.

Expect other stores besides Macy’s opening early on Black Friday this year. Toys R Us began opening their doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 2011. In 2013, Kmart opened up at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving and didn’t close until 11 p.m. Black Friday.

Opening their doors to shoppers at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day last year was Target, Kohl’s, and J.C. Penney. It’s unknown at this point if they’ll open at 6 p.m. since Macy’s is doing it.

According to AL, some stores have leaked when they’ll open for the biggest shopping day of the year in 2014. Kmart will open this year at 8 a.m., Best Buy at 6 p.m., and Walmart at 6 p.m.

Kmart and Walmart have always been open Thanksgiving Day.

Many people feel it’s wrong for big retailers to open their doors early during Thanksgiving because it infringes on a day workers should be spending with their families. They view it as being more about profit margin and less about tradition and values.

[Image via I Travel U Travel]