Thanksgiving is the second most popular holiday in America, Christmas being the first. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November every year. It is a day that people gather with their families to give thanks for all the blessings we have received. But for two years now, Thanksgiving is also known for the early Black Friday shopping.

Since 2012, stores have started opening on Thanksgiving day at around 8pm. This has become known as “The Black Friday Creep.” Although this reduces the crowd on Friday and Saturday, is it really okay to open on Thursday as well? While some enjoy the shopping fiasco, others believe Thanksgiving should be a day reserved for being with family and loved ones, free from shopping distractions.

Black Friday has been around for a while, but just recently it has become an essential shopping day. Almost 89 million people are already in stores by 12 am Friday. In 2012, consumer spending was about $59 billion. As you can tell, millions of Americans enjoy and take advantage of the tremendous savings on Black Friday. Although most major retail stores have decided to open on Thanksgiving this year, twenty eight have decided not to. These stores include Marshalls, Von Maur, Sam’s Club, Nordstrom, and many more. These stores have decided not to open because of their consideration towards their employees to be with their family.

Overall, Black Friday is seen as a good thing because it helps people save money for the upcoming Christmas. The only doubt in that is that the stores are opening on Thanksgiving, causing family unity to be lost, which begs the question, is early shopping for saving worth it?