Are 'Black Friday' Christmas Sales Starting Too Early?

The Friday after Thanksgiving has long been considered a major shopping day known—"Black Friday"—with many stores offering their best deals to kick off the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday seems to start earlier and earlier with each passing year. Some stores are now opening their doors for their Black Friday deals on Thursday evening, requiring their employees to cut their Thanksgivings short.

Some retail employees have flocked to social media Internet petition site Change.org to sponsor petitions asking for early-opening retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target to push back their sales. They argue the that, by opening so early, retailers are stealing from them precious time with family and friends. And their pleas echo the common complaint that the holidays have become too commercialized.

Retailers and other supporters of increasingly early Christmas sales argue that stores have every right to open early if consumers demand it. They point out that Black Friday is an important event for the retail industry. Furthermore, they say, a strong holiday retail season is just what the economy needs to create jobs and lower unemployment.