Campaign to save Thanksgiving

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Not everyone is excited about Black Friday extending into the Thanksgiving holiday. Many retail workers are speaking out through social media in an effort to save Thanksgiving from turning into a national shopping day.

Shoppers no longer have to set their alarms to wake up early. Best Buy, Target, Kohl's, and Macy's will open their doors at midnight instead of the traditional 5am on Black Friday in an effort to encourage more shoppers to spend more money.

Moving Black Friday to Thanksgiving Day disappoints nearly 93,000 retail workers who
signed a petition that encourages people to spend time with their families and not at the store. But retailers say it's what their customers want.

Jane Wayland is the Chair of the Marketing and Advertising Department at UALR. She says if shoppers didn't want to shop, then retailers wouldn't open early. "They have to pay workers and it costs them to keep the stores open, so if it wasn't profitable they wouldn't do it."

212 million shoppers spent nearly $400 per person last year on Black Friday. 60 percent finished shopping before 9am.

Andy Gallowa is the store manager at Target on Chenal Parkway in Little Rock. He says opening earlier is what customers have been asking for. "Our guests really want to shop after their Thanksgiving dinner rather than get up in the middle of the night."

Joyce Yuratich plans to shop on Black Friday. "I like the idea." So does Del Mika. "After turkey, I'm going to be headed out of the house."

What about the workers? Target corporate headquarters says, "Target does our best to work around the schedules of all of our team members, making every effort to accommodate their requests. Target will offer holiday pay to all hourly team members who work on Thanksgiving."

Wayland says if people don't like the retailers cutting into Thanksgiving Day, then they don't have to shop. "To stop it, don't go to the store. You shop with your feet. If you want to make an impact, don't spend the money."

Sears and JC Penney will not open on Thanksgiving Day so workers can be with their families.

In just the last two days, the number of people who have signed the petition to save Thanksgiving has grown from 7,000 people to more than 93,000 people.