Kmart Catching Flack For Thanksgiving Hours

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” might be fictional, but angry consumers claim there is a similar situation going on in real life. The villain is corporate retail, and critics claim it’s hijacking Thanksgiving. 

Some stores are not closing at all for the holiday, depriving many employees of precious time spent with family.  

In recent years, retail chains have competed to take the busiest shopping day of the year to the next level, pushing “doorbuster” times back to the early morning hours on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday.

And, when Toys “R” Us Inc. opened at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night in 2010, it ignited a controversial trend which several chains have followed.

Right now, Kmart is at the center of the storm. Its parent company, Sears Holdings Corp., recently announced Kmart will try and capitalize on the shopping frenzy by staying open for 41 consecutive hours, starting at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving day.

Outraged customers took to social media, posting on Facebook that the corporation is “greedy” and “morally bankrupt,” contending it is placing “consumerism above traditional family values.” Some claim the move is a desperate attempt to save a failing company.

Kmart responded to many of these posts, asserting the store has been open on Thanksgiving for 22 years, and this year is no different. This sentiment was echoed by Irene Ainsworth, general manager of the Kmart store on Sunset Avenue in Springdale. 

But, in years past, the retailer closed for several hours, publicly noting it wanted to allow staff time to spend with family.

Also on Facebook, the retailer wrote that store officials thought it was “a good thing to give its workers the opportunity to earn extra money for the holidays.”

When a manager at the Springdale location was asked if he appreciated the “opportunity” to work on Thanksgiving, he said corporate policy prohibited staff from speaking to media.

Other employees were more candid in their contempt for the situation, but did not give their names.

And although Kmart claims staff working on the holiday will be minimal and scheduled on a volunteer basis, Springdale employees who spoke to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal said their bosses told them everyone will be working.

Kmart is not the only store to be open all day Thanksgiving, but it seems to be the only one making headlines.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will have many of its stores open 24-7, as always (except on Christmas). But Walmart is holding off on the Black Friday deals until 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, whereas Kmart deals will be non-stop starting at 6 a.m.