Holiday shopping choices

The Gazette Editorial Board

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Before some Americans have a chance to sample Thanksgiving Day pumpkin pie, the frenzied Christmas shopping season will make its entrance.

Numerous retailers, from big-box stores and electronics supercenters to shopping malls, will open on Thanksgiving Day. The Corridor is no exception. More and more stores are jumping the gun on Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday gift-buying season.

Some see this as sacrilege, and we're sympathetic to that view. A great American family holiday, a day to slow down and spend time with loved ones, is being carved up by the quest for profits. Give thanks for all we have, and then run out and buy more. That sits about as well as one too many servings of marshmallow yams.

But the reality is that our retail businesses are facing an unusually short Christmas shopping stretch, and at a time when Americans with stagnant or shrinking earnings may be pulling back the financial reins. Although we feel for any retail workers being forced to give up their holiday, and for small business owners feeling compelled by the big boxes to add holiday hours, there are also plenty of folks happy to get the extra work hours and much-needed pay.

America's retail sector is a major economic driver. So we also sympathize with the impulse to entice shoppers away from football and pie. The National Retail Federation says 33 million Americans will go shopping on Thanksgiving Day, among 140 million who will shop at some point over the Black Friday weekend.

And luckily, we have choices. Many people won't shop on Thanksgiving Day. And some families have incorporated shopping into their holiday traditions. Some shoppers prefer to head out on Thursday instead of waking in the wee hours to grab Friday bargains. Others will set their alarm clocks.

When the culture hands Americans that big pan of yams, we can take a big scoop, a small taste or just pass it on. And that's one more thing we can be thankful for on Thursday.

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