Dear Retailers

Dear Retailers,

I consider myself to be a pretty smart person.  Heck, even the University of Iowa bestowed an MBA degree on me a few years back, so I feel fairly confident that I kinda understand the predicament you folks are in every year.  Adding to this, my husband has owned a small business for the last 20 years and I have seen lean and plentiful years - and I feel your pain since 2008 with the economy downturn.  He/we are still recovering.

So what I'm going to ask you to do may seem counterintuitive, but I'm going to ask you anyway.

Please stop.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I love to shop and I love to Black Friday shop.  ON FRI-DAY.  But I'm proud to say that the earliest I've ever been out is 5:00 am.  I love Black Friday only because it is the one day a year I get to spend the entire day with my best friend, Lisa.  But we'd spend it together if you opened at 8:00 or 9:00 or 10:00 am. 

Please give us back our holidays.

You have to stop eke-ing into our holidays. Sundays haven't been sacred for years. None of the Federal holidays are safe anymore, Easter is almost non-existent, and now you're taking away Thanksgiving. Some of you are already taking over Christmas.  We don't know how to have family time anymore. We don't know how to rest. Stop blaming technology. It's the almighty dollar and consumerism. You can do this. We need more leaders in our society. 

Your employees should have that same option.  I know, I've worked retail before - so don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.  It's not much of a holiday when you have to rest before a 12 hour shift that starts at midnight or 2 am.  Give these people back their family time, because I believe that is one thing that contributes to our overscheduled, crazy society.  Do it for our kids.  Please.

There is nothing (except hospitals and a few emergency services) that I can think of that needs to be 24/7.  We have the internet.  We're good.

Thank you. And Happy Thanksgiving!