For years, holiday traditionalists have decried the creeping commercialism of the season, with malls and stores playing Christmas music prior to Thanksgiving and Black Friday bargain hunters pillaging and plundering department store shopping aisles.
With many of those stores, especially the discount retailers, moving Black Friday another four hours forward to 8 p.m. Thursday, those traditionalists are figuratively foaming at the mouth — and it seems Walmart has borne the brunt of the verbal beating, especially online, where some have gone so far to call for a boycott by holiday shoppers.
The Hilo Walmart store opened at 5 a.m. on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, which is usually a day most retail outlets close to allow their employees participate in food, football, and giving thanks with family and friends.
The retail giant had a steady stream of customers at midday on Thursday, but the invading hordes one might expect hadn’t yet materialized. As it turned out, although the store was open, the Black Friday doorbusters didn’t go on sale until 8 p.m., the same time neighboring retailers Target, Sears and Macy’s open for their Black Friday sales.
“They’re starting to line up,” said Tom DeWitt, who had just finished shopping, about the bargain hunters.
“They were trying to figure out who was going to take what shifts,” added his wife, Jackie DeWitt.
Asked why they were shopping on Thanksgiving, Tom DeWitt replied: “We’ve been married for 28 years and this is the first year we didn’t make a Thanksgiving dinner. We’re not here for Black Friday. We’re here because there are some things that we needed. Since we’re not doing the traditional Thanksgiving this year — we’re putting it off until our daughter comes home from college — we decided we would shop. We’re going to do our Thanksgiving dinner in December. We’re not here to line up or take advantage of Black Friday.”
Indeed, a few folks, mostly women, were lining up for the Black Friday bargains which were more than eight hours into the future. Most declined to talk, perhaps not wanting to divulge their battle plans to the listening competition. One woman who didn’t give her name said simply, “I’m here for a $98 TV,” referring to a 32-inch Vizio HDTV that Walmart advertised as a Black Friday special.
Shyla Ku said she and partner D.J. Gouveia were there “to see what they have on sale for Black Friday.”
“We’re (decorating) our daughter’s room so we basically came to finish her room,” she said. “We were able to park right here and it’s easy to shop on holidays because everybody’s at home.”
Gouveia described the mood inside the store as “pretty mellow.”
Ku said she and Gouveia are “going to a family dinner so we don’t need to cook.”
We’re lucky this year,” she added and smiled.
No one seemed to be conflicted about shopping on Thanksgiving.
“If I were, I wouldn’t be here,” said one woman who declined to identify herself. “I’m just here killing time.”
There were busloads of tourists from the Princess Cruises ship Star Princess arriving and departing in tour buses, as well. Most were readily identifiable by the shell lei and cameras around their necks.
“We’re on the boat and we’re lookin’ for something to do. We’re glad that they’re open,” said Dale Watts of Omaha, Neb.
Added Sandy Meisner of San Dimas, Calif.: “The folks at the layaway told me you have to be in the store by 3:30 to do a layaway, because they said that at 4 o’clock, they’re closing the layaway counter.”
If Black Thursday were to take a cue from class reunions and give a prize to the person or persons who traveled the farthest to shop, first place would have gone to Mike and Carol Carnell of Wales, on holiday in the islands and enjoying the warm weather and aloha.
“Although the shop is open, the bargains are not on sale until 8 o’clock tonight. Well, our ship sails at 4:30, so we were not able to take advantage of those Black Friday bargains,” Carol Carnell said.
Why did they hop on the bus to Walmart?
We’re on the cruise and it’s just somewhere to come and buy some things,” Mike Carnell said.
Added his wife: “And then we’re off to the beach.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
