Walmart, Target Black Friday Ads Continue Holiday Shopping Controversy

By Bea Karnes

As Thanksgiving approaches, bargain hunters across the country are gearing up for Black Friday. Big-name retailers like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy have already posted their Black Friday advertisements.

Walmart’s 40-page Black Friday ad features three doorbuster “while supplies last” events. The first is Thanksgiving Day at 6 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. event, and another at 6 a.m. Friday. Electronics lead the way with a 50-inch Vizio television for $218. Xbox Ones and PS4s are also discounted.

Target’s Black Friday ad features hundreds of video games will be 50 percent off, dolls for $5, movies for $4, kids pajamas for $5—and that’s just a sampling

With internet ads and flyers generating enormous buzz from holiday shoppers, prompting some shoppers to begin camping out weeks before the sales, other large retailers—Costco, Sam’s Club, Nordstrom, GameStop and others —have announced that stores will actually be closed during the holiday.

Von Maur, with 29 stores in 13 states, stated that it will not sacrifice values for profit.

“Some things are sacred, including spending time with family and loved ones on Thanksgiving and other holidays. We profitably run our business during the remaining 358 days of the year, so we don’t have to sacrifice tradition for the sake of sales,” Jim von Maur, the store’s chain president told TIME. “Our family-oriented focus has been the cornerstone of our culture since 1872, and that is never going to change.”

While the choice to remain closed and allow employees to spend the holiday with families may be honorable, a survey conducted by Accenture of 2014 holiday shopping patterns shows that 45 percent of consumers will shop on Thanksgiving with half going to stores between 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving day and 5 a.m. on Black Friday.

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