Target stores are open until 10 pm on Christmas Eve?

[liberal N proud]

That is just fucked up and puts fully in the time of Scrooge when coupled with trump in power.

[JI7]

1. why is it fucked up ? there are many non xtians and just non religious people

who might prefer to work then and get another day off.

[liberal N proud]

6. See my response below

[Croney]

2. Maybe there are enough non-Christians available to work?

That could be part of it, I dunno.

[liberal N proud]

5. Target managers will not schedule employees based on that

They will destroy the holidays for their employees

[Croney]

8. Is it only Target? If so, they've cornered the market

on last-minute expensive tacky toys and ugly clothes nobody else wanted in the month before!

[liberal N proud]

11. It's only Target this year

Next year others will join, then you all will be working the holidays. It's how black Friday became black thanksgiving.


It's a slippery slope.

[Ms. Toad]

13. Meh - not so long ago stores were open 24 hours a day

near the holidays (and some at other times).

Economic reality caught up with those stores - and I'm not aware of anyone staying open 24/7 in the lead up to the holidays, and now when I need to shop on the way home I have to make sure I leave by around 10 PM, becaue it is rare to find a store (even a grocery store) open after 11.

I'm not too worried about this particular slippery slope.

[Horse with no Name]

25. Kohl's is open 24 hours. N/t

[Ms. Toad]

29. I'll be darned. I didn't think they were around here - but it looks like you're right.

I drove past the plaza about 2 hours ago and they looked dead. And the Walmart stores that were all open all night, then only one open all night, now are closed. (So, at leat around here, Kohls is the tail end of the trend - not the beginning of a slippery slope)

Too bad they don't have the things I usually need at 2 AM . . .

[cwydro]

60. Nah, wal mart is open in my town.

Also several malls.

[liberal N proud]

62. Walmart closes at 6

[cwydro]

64. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods open too.

I’ll bet all the online services have people working too. Airlines, hotels, call centers, police, fire, movie theaters, CNN, and all the tv stations, hospitals, hey! Even Disney! All open.

Why so upset at Target?

I worked holidays for years. Volunteered to do so.

[JI7]

10. they don't do it by asking their religion but asking which holidays they want off

they might prefer working xmas eve over new year's eve

[KatyMan]

50. Curious why you say that.

When I worked retail ages ago they always asked for volunteers first when scheduling during holidays. Heck, even now in the corporate world I work in people volunteer to work holiday weeks so those with families or travel plans can take their vacations during Christmas week, etc. I'm sure retail workers can swap shifts as well. I'm sure it's good money for the job.

[liberal N proud]

57. 32 years of experience with a retail giant

[crazycatlady]

7. I worked at a 24 hr CVS in HS/college

And on Christmas Eve (after 6) and Christmas Day, we got double time. I'd volunteer to work the 6-12 on Christmas Eve and a full 8 hour shift Christmas Day. I was not going to turn down double time.

[BannonsLiver]

34. I've also worked with people who want the extra cash

Most simply adjust their plans with family. It’s funny, Target gets all the heat for staying open on Christmas Eve but our locally owned grocery chain is open 24-7 even on Christmas. Meanwhile, the Wal-Mart across the street is closed on Christmas Day.

[spooky3]

52. When I was traveling on Thanksgiving, the guy working

The hotel desk said he was getting double time and got to leave mid afternoon, which was when his family was gathering. He was happy.

[Sherman A1]

3. It is pretty

Damn Sad.

[USALiberal]

4. So are airports, hospitals, convenience stores, movie theaters, etc, etc, etc

[Agschmid]

9. 12/24 isn't a holiday.

[dflprincess]

14. I see Costco is only open until 5 Christmas Eve

For many who observe Christmas, Christmas Eve is often a big deal and, for some families, the bigger deal.

[Agschmid]

21. Sure, but it's not a holiday.

[Renew Deal]

46. Most stores are only open to 5-6

And Target is a big store, even with a bare bones staff. They probably can do it with a volunteer crew, but I’m not sure they should. All workers like to have extra time off the same way all like extra money.

I don’t like them being open at all on Thanksgiving

[kcr]

71. Not surprised. Costco is relatively good to its employees.

Also not surprised at this thread. Sad to see so many DUers so crappy on labor issues these days. A sign of how much labor has died.

[NurseJackie]

12. Good to know! Thanks! 👍

😘💕🍷

[Croney]

15. Dollar General is also open until 10pm tomorrow.

In case you really really have to get more imitation stuff before the kids wake up.

[sarah FAILIN]

55. Batteries.

We did it last year and nearly again this year got the wrong sized batteries. Walgreens was open.

[Igel]

16. People do stuff on Xmas eve?

Sorry, both parents worked shift work. Xmas eve was when the Xmas decorations would go up, if both parents were home. My mother may have been an atheist, but still knew that the 12 days of Xmas began on Xmas.

If just one was home, then something might get done. Maybe baking. Presents wrapped. Decorations up inside or out. But they'd plan this out so that by Xmas eve everything that they wanted done was done by then.

When I was very young, before parents had lots of seniority, one or both would have to work on Xmas. Good news was that if you worked on Xmas, you had New Year's Day off.

Steel mills can't shut down for a day. It took almost a week to shut a blast furnace down. Along the way the refractory brick would shatter and they'd have to reline the furnaces.

Sort of difficult to remember, but Xmas eve was mostly work. Not sitting around a table having good times. Then again, I haven't kept Xmas since, um, '75? '76?

[maryellen99]

24. My mom's side gets together on Christmas Eve in the evening

We have appetizers for dinner and exchange gifts with the person we got in the gift draw.

[Raine]

26. Christmas Eve has always been the big night

for our extended family get to gatherwe have dinner then open presents. Christmas day is the quiet day spent with just immediate family.

[maryellen99]

41. Same here nt

[Polybius]

74. Someone is clearly not Italian :)

For many of us, it's a bigger family day than Christmas. Certainly a bigger food day.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Kohl's has been open 24 hours a day since Friday.

[TheBlackAdder]

22. Thanks! My son worked today and tomorrow. He needs to get his mom something.

[Iggo]

18. Why is this bad again?

[liberal N proud]

19. BahHumbug

[TheBlackAdder]

20. My family celebrates Christmas Day, my Ex's on Christmas Eve. Makes celebrating easy.

[WillowTree]

23. Explain, please, why non-Christians should not be able to shop on Christian holidays.

Also why non-Christians (and Christians who don't care, for that matter) shouldn't be able to work that day.

[Luz]

43. This. All other religious days I just don't notice unless I

want to. Christmas should be the same.

[Journeyman]

27. My mother, a waitress, worked every holiday I remember growing up . . .

Thanksgiving, Xmas Eve & Day, New Year's Eve & Day, Valentine's, Independence, Memorial and Labor -- any day that had a "Day" attached, she worked. And that included every Sun- to Satur-.

She raised 4 kids by herself. She was grateful for the holiday hours; got great tips, enough to pay for Xmas gifts and all the trimmings. Yeah, would have been nice to have her home, but we all liked to eat, so she needed money, and that was also why she was gone -- others needed her to be there so they could go out to eat holiday meals.

And that was in the days when Kennedy & Johnson were President.

[Hekate]

36. My ex husband was a bartender at a big hotel full of tourists. The guests certainly expected...

...that there would be bartenders, cooks, room-maids, busboys, waitresses -- all the myriad employees making a living there -- 24/7, in shifts.

[TomSlick]

28. I'm sorry. The holiday is Christmas.

Christmas Eve and St. Stephen's Day are not holidays. Christmas Eve is the eve - the day before - the holiday.

[brooklynite]

30. TARGET is closed on Christmas...what's your complaint?

[jmowreader]

31. I get off at 7 pm on Christmas Eve

Then I go back in at 4 pm Tuesday. A lot of people are in the same boat.

[Hekate]

32. There is nothing new about that at all. I worked retail all thru college...

Every night till 9pm closing, and all day Sunday. Holidays too. They paid me for all the hours I was there, so I had no beef. I did my studying from about 11pm on.

Retail stores are in the business to make money, and nowadays they are on their last legs due to Amazon and other online shopping venues. When they finally close down, all their current employees will be SOL.

[Croney]

44. I had to google SOL.

"Shit outta luck"

Gotta remember that one!

[revmclaren]

33. The Foodsco near my apt

is open til 10 pm tomorrow.

They are closed Christmas day for their employees.

Many times I have had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The last company I worked for paid time and a half for Christmas day plus holiday pay (union). I always worked it if I could since it paid the equivalent of a week's pay at some jobs I have had in the past.



ONLY! 2019 and beyond.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. If you work retail, are a nurse or other hospital based health worker,

if you work for an airline, if you're a cop or a fire fighter, if you work in a factory that runs three shifts, if you're a restaurant worker, you don't get to go home at 5pm every day and you certainly work holidays and weekends.

I almost always did shift work, and I almost never had a holiday off. Kind of sucked, but it went with the job. I eventually discovered I really wasn't suited to a supposedly regular office job.

So, if you ever want to run out and pick up a gallon of milk late at night, or want to go to a late showing of a movie (which reminds me, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day are generally busy for movie theaters), or eat at a restaurant after you get off work, or hope the fire department will show up in the middle of the night, be appreciative of the people who work those jobs.

Probably the worst thing about Target being opened that late is that people will walk in the door at five minutes to 10 and then be outraged that they can't spend two hours browsing.

[Silver Gaia]

37. Well, according to this list, these stores will all be open until 10 pm on Christmas Eve:

Big Lots
Dollar General
Kmart
Ross
Target

https://www.ajc.com/news/national/christmas-eve-store-hours-what-time-does-macy-best-buy-walmart-target-and-others-close/m5gzsPiCsZIYn5OeobMWbM/

I join with those who say, "So what?"

I worked in retail on and off through the 80s and 90s. This is nothing new! Like others here have said, we got paid time and a half for working holidays, and many of us were happy to do it. No one that I'm aware of was ever forced to work instead of be with family. There was always someone who WANTED to do it. I do remember one occasion where many of us had various conflicts (wasn't Christmas, was some other holiday), so we just divvied the shift up into smaller shifts and we each took one - at time and a half. No biggie! What about Jews or Musilms or Hindus (and more) who have to work on their holy days? It's a minor thing to be upset about in the grand scheme of things.

[Roland99]

38. And millions will work in airports, hotels, theme parks, hospitals, etc

[LakeSuperiorView]

39. I worked in a Nursing home during college. Have relatives who are nurses.

Healthcare (except for Doctor's Office visits) never shut down. Double time in lieu of time off. You celebrate the Holiday when you can. People shift holidays all the time to deal with in-laws.

If you have had the luxury of always celebrating Christmas, on Christmas, consider yourself very lucky, and consider remaining silent.

[dembotoz]

40. Will prob start my shopping @ 9;30

[Codeine]

42. It's an important time for last-minute shopping.

Christmas Eve isn’t a holiday, Target is closed on Christmas, and I’m sure most employees don’t really mind.

I spent most of my life in retail and I’ve worked a lot of actual holidays, so bein asked to work a non-holiday doesn’t seem problematic to me.

[crazycatlady]

45. Another thing

AS a former retail employee, I preferred days like Christmas eve (which is just another day to me as my family never did anything then) because it was very busy and the day went by really fast.

It's also known as 'The boys are back in town.' The later the day went, the more predominately male the customers were.

[elocs]

47. This is too simple: If people didn't shop and buy things, the stores would not be open.

Unless there is some law that prevents stores from being open, then it's their business when to do business. And all of this happened long, long before Trump.

[cwydro]

48. Hospitals, prisons, airports (and all stores within them) are open on every holiday.

You’ve live a very sheltered life if you’re just learning that people work on holidays.

And Christmas Eve is not even a holiday!

[TexasBushwhacker]

49. I have to wonder how much business they get in the evening though

I worked in retail for 13 years in the 70s and 80s. Working Christmas Eve was a given, but we closed at 6 pm. Frankly, it was usually a pretty normal day sales wise. Last minute shopping is usually done the last weekend before Christmas, which is very busy, not on Christmas Eve. By CE, people are getting together with their families or traveling. I wonder how much business they really do, or if they are just getting the store straightened up for the post Christmas sales.

I actually enjoyed working that day. They always had a nice lunch for us in the break room.

[crazycatlady]

54. We got the lion's share between 4 and 6

It was always procrastinating men.

[TexasBushwhacker]

68. Could be procrastinating

Could be they needed one more paycheck or a Christmas bonus.

[k8conant]

51. Considering that Easter (Pascha) is a bigger holy day than Christmas...

why should Christians worry about this?

[raging moderate]

53. My Mom had no Christmas money until 5pm 12/24.

Last edited Tue Dec 25, 2018, 10:47 PM - Edit history (1)

If you have ANY authority over low-income workers, PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL 5 PM CHRISTMAS EVE TO GIVE CHRISTMAS BONUSES! You have no idea what a pandemonium this creates! She would rush to get it all DONE that night! She had to get home first, of course, about 40-50 minutes by subway and bus. Most of our Christmas came from a couple of little stores near us. There was this thing called layaway, and she took full advantage of that. Presents had been selected and put on layaway earlier. Still, she had to make sure she got to the store in time to get them out of layaway. Then, that was when we got our allowances, so often that was when we could buy presents. Then we had to get some groceries in. Sometimes we couldn't afford a tree until then, and those were real nightmare evenings. My three hot-tempered siblings would all throw tantrums over something or other. I imagine I was probably whining all evening, as that was my particular misbehavior. Then we had to wrap the presents, and somehow we had to get some kind of supper in there. She would be up past midnight, desperately working and working.

[sarah FAILIN]

56. I remember those sort of Christmas Eve nights.

We didn't get a lot so it didn't take long, but there was no black Friday shopping at our house when I was little. Dad said when pickings were slim it made picking a gift easier, lol.

[Recursion]

58. The 7-11 near me is open today and tomorrow

The employees are Bangladeshi; they don't really care (though they have to bring in people from other stores on Eid).

[jalan48]

59. Target won't get any of my money.

[cwydro]

61. I guess if you are injured, you'll boycott the hospital too, right?

Got anyone traveling on Christmas? Tell them to boycott the airlines.

[jalan48]

63. Emergency medical services, police, fire, etc. are a different animal than department stores IMHO.

An argument could be made to close airlines at Christmas but they have been operating as long as I can remember over the holidays. My position is why reward a company for instituting a NEW working hour policy on Christmas Eve just to make more money? The only way I can show how I feel is by not spending money at their store. If you are OK with it then shop til you drop as they say.

[cwydro]

66. Hotels? Movie theaters?

They’ve been open on holidays as long as I remember.

Christmas tradition back in the day for my sister and me to go to the movies after Christmas dinner. I may go tomorrow.

[jalan48]

67. It's true some businesses are open on Christmas and have been for decades. I just don't

agree with or celebrate the idea of a major chain store changing its hours to stay open late on Christmas Eve. I agree with another poster that it could lead to more big chains staying open later on Christmas Eve. I guess the good news is that the coming climate change driven scarcity will put an end to many of the practices we currently accept as normal in our consumption driven society.

[Mr. Quackers]

76. I guess it's good that cataclysmic climate change

will keep stores from being open until 10 pm!

[jalan48]

77. Our misplaced priorities will be exposed for all the world to see. Those poor Americans!

[crazycatlady]

75. Hotels probably get a lot of business on Christmas

AS many (including myself) would rather stay there than with family.

[kcr]

72. Because hospitals and retail are the same, derp n/t

[cwydro]

78. Movie theaters? Hotels?

Lol.

[X_Digger]

65. So?

We don't do christmas, it's nice to know there'll be one store I can visit if I need something.

[liberal N proud]

73. People who think it is voluntary are delusional

[brooklynite]

70. Thank goodness; just ran out to Target for the last two bags of chestnuts...

[Hela]

79. Service economy reality

When I worked retail as a high-school teenager back in the dark ages, it was seniority that determined scheduling preferences. You had to pay some dues by working there for a while before you got any perks, like requesting specific days off.

One year in college, I worked a seasonal job in retail. We were expected to work on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve; part of the job as seasonal help is to relieve the regular employees.

I worked in a 24/7 call center for a couple of years when I went back to work 9 years ago. Everyone, including managers, had to sign up to work two holiday shifts during the year, one of which had to be on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve or New Years Day. You might also be on call for another one or two holidays, depending on staffing. I don’t think anyone stuck in an elevator, or calling a funeral home to pick up a body, or trying to get hold of their doctor because their two-year old just swallowed a plastic toy part would be too happy if nobody answered the phone.

Some people want to work, some people have to work.