Target worker protests early start to “Black Friday”

A Target employee has launched a protest against Target Corp.’s decision to open five hours earlier than normal on Black Friday, the official first shopping day of the holiday season. Omaha, Neb.-based Target parking attendant Anthony Hardwick, 29, has collected more than 57,000 signatures on a petition to “Tell Target to Save Thanksgiving” that he posted on www.change.org.

Hardwick told Bloomberg Businessweek that he and his coworkers have been ordered to come in for work at 11 p.m. on Nov. 24 for a 10-hour shift. “I was so disappointed the day I found out about this because I did the math in my head, and I was going to have to go to bed in the early afternoon on Thanksgiving to go in and work 10 hours,” he said. “Everyone at work was resigned because the economy is bad and so our employer has us over a barrel.”

Target is one of several retailers that have announced they will open for holiday shoppers earlier than the traditional crack-of-dawn opening on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Macy’s, Best Buy and Kohl’s will also open at midnight on Thanksgiving, Consumer Reports reported, while Walmart hopes to lure holiday shoppers into its stores with special deals at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving day.

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Hardwick’s petition puts Target in an awkward position, NPD Group Retail Analyst Marshal Cohen told Bloomberg Businessweek. “This petition and sentiment will gain momentum,” he said. “The people who avoid the stores will be telling the retailer they will not shop there because they are breaking tradition.”

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