Esme's Blog: Blue Law For Thanksgiving?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After all the fuss about Target and other retailers opening early on Thanksgiving, after all the hype about the backlash, the only conclusion that can be drawn the day after is that if stores open with deals, shoppers will come.
They came, they stood in line, they shoved, in one case in California used pepper spray, all in the name of a good deal. In the video from around the country, there seemed almost an air of desperation among shoppers. It is all the more shocking that this was no food line, this was not about the battle to secure living essentials. This was all about getting electronics at near wholesale prices.
The desperation is perhaps a sign of what we as a nation consider an essential worth fighting for. When a chance to get a really great TV at almost half off comes around on Black Friday, it is a battle royal.
So what will happen next year? Will more stores follow the lead of Toys 'R Us and Wal-Mart and open on Thanksgiving night? I bet they do. States and local governments have the power to regulate sales. They do here in Minnesota when it comes to alcohol and car sales on Sunday.
Perhaps next year the Minnesota legislature might consider keeping Thanksgiving a true holiday and barring retailers from opening that day. That would hopefully keep the Black Friday madness down to one depraved day a year.
