Monday, October 13, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Monday, October 13th is Canada's day of Thanksgiving.

Their Thanksgiving is very similar to ours, with big dinners and watching football on TV, just any day through the weekend.

It falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the US.

Writer Zoe Mintz of the IBTimes has a great write up of some of the differences between America's and Canada's Turkey Day.



Our favorite part?
However, unlike American Thanksgiving, Canadians don't typically see the holiday as a kickoff event to Christmas shopping.

Read the full article over at ibtimes: Canadian Thanksgiving 2014: 3 Ways The Holiday Differs From America’s Turkey Day.

You can find Zoe Mintz on Twitter at @ZoeMintz and as always we're at @RespectTurkey

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thanskgiving Movies

This upcoming Thanksgiving you'll probably see mostly Christmas movies on the TV already, but there are some good movies out there about Thanksgiving time!

John R. Kennedy over at Global News writes:
To get into the spirit of the holiday, we’ve cooked up a list of 10 movies and TV specials set during Thanksgiving. They’re not all great movies (you mean some are turkeys? – ed.) but they’re bound to resonate with anyone spending time with relatives and pumpkin pies.
Our favorites: Free Birds, and of course Charlie Brown's Thanskgiving.


Head over to globalnews.ca to read the full story: 10 movies and specials to watch this Thanksgiving

You can follow John R. Kennedy on twitter at @GlobalJRK and as always we're at @RespectTurkey.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Christmas coming earlier: More retailers now count season's length in months, not weeks

Over at the Omaha World Herald, writer Barbara Soderlin has yet another article in the news about stores opening earlier this year.


(from: omaha.com - Christmas coming earlier: More retailers now count season's length in months, not weeks

Probably the best line from the article:
What’s creepier than all the Halloween masks on display?

The “Christmas creep” shoppers will see as holiday promotions and sales arrive in stores even earlier this year.
(from: omaha.com - Christmas coming earlier: More retailers now count season's length in months, not weeks

Read the rest of Barbara's article here.

You can follow her on Twitter at @barbarasoderlin, and as always we're at @respectturkey.

Monday, October 6, 2014

WSJ: Expect Retailers to Open Even Earlier This Thanksgiving

Andria Cheng at the Wall Street Journal wrote up an article about how retailers are expected to be open for a full day of shopping on Thanksgiving Day.

While retailers aren’t expected to announce any special Thanksgiving hours until the second half of October or into November, “it’s inevitable to see them open all day or even earlier than last year,” Joel Bines, managing director and co-leader of consulting firm AlixPartners’ retail practice, said in an interview.
(from: WSJ: Expect Retailers to Open Even Earlier This Thanksgiving)

Even though retailers are planning to make people work on Thanksgiving Day, it may not even do much to boost their sales.

To be sure, opening early on Thanksgiving may do little more than ruin employees’ turkey feasts.

Last year, retailers from Wal-Mart and Best Buy to Macy's and J.C. Penney opened stores or kicked off sales events earlier on Thanksgiving. Still, record Black Friday weekend sales didn’t salvage what turned out to be a disappointing holiday season.

“With the soft sales outlook, we do anticipate a few earlier openings” on Thanksgiving, or even a few more all-day openings, Mr. Johnson of Customer Growth said. “However, there is a law of diminishing returns,” and stores risk cannibalizing their December sales.
(from: WSJ: Expect Retailers to Open Even Earlier This Thanksgiving)

So even though some retailers will admit that shopping on Thanksgiving doesn't help their sales, and shopping too early can actually harm their December sales, they're all going to go through with it.

You can follow Andria Cheng on Twitter at: @andriacheng and as always we're at @respectturkey

Friday, October 3, 2014

The Buzz: Leave Thanksgiving alone

Maureen Wallenfang wrote up a great article with results from a survey her readers responding to a poll she started about people shopping on Thanksgiving.

Her question was:
"What do you think about stores being open all day on Thanksgiving?

Are you in the camp that enjoys the longer opportunity to shop and take advantage of deals and doorbusters? Or will you forgo the lure of big savings to preserve the holiday and take a stand for retail employees who will lose the holiday altogether?"
(from: postcrescent.com - The Buzz: Leave Thanksgiving alone)

Over 400 readers responded, and all but a few were against stores being open on Thanksgiving.

Readers had comments such as:
"If people can't get enough shopping done in 12 hours a day, seven days a week, outside of those holidays, there's something wrong with them."

"Asking employees to work crazy hours when they traditionally have been sleeping, enjoying the company of family, attending religious services, etc. is something that makes me avoid some local businesses,"

"What's the point of giving thanks for everything, if all we're after is more stuff?"
(from: postcrescent.com - The Buzz: Leave Thanksgiving alone)

More people out there shouting the message clearly to stores, Respect The Turkey!

You can follow Maureen Wallenfang on Twitter at: @wallenfang and as always we're at @respectturkey