About one in four American workers will have to go to work this year on a holiday, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s Day. Given that no American worker gets the guarantee that they can take a paid holiday off, their options are limited. Employees at Kmart and Target even tell ThinkProgress that they aren’t allowed to ask for holidays off and face being fired if they don’t come in.
But consumers have options about whether or not to support stores that open. While 12 brands have decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day, requiring millions of workers to miss out on time with friends and family, 18 others have decided to stay closed.
Instead of shopping at Macy’s or J.C. Penney, for example, consumers have the option to go to Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. Instead of Walmart, Kmart, or Target, they can go to GameStop, Barnes & Noble, or Bed, Bath & Beyond. Instead of Sports Authority, shoppers can get outdoors gear at Patagonia or REI.
And consumers may be prepared to stand in solidarity with retail employees who say they don’t want to work on the holiday. Less than one in five people who say they’re going to shop over Thanksgiving weekend say they’ll do it on the holiday itself, a drop from nearly a quarter last year, while the majority aren’t even going to shop in actual stores. Half of Americans say they think shopping on that day itself is a terrible idea. That may be why opening early didn’t juice holiday sales for the stores that made workers come in on the holiday last year.