The Boston Globe reports that amid reports that Walmart may be planning to stay open all day on Thanksgiving and how "more and more companies have been opening earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving night, meaning that droves of workers had to cut their days with family and friends short to staff the shopping frenzy," there remains at least one holdout.
Costco, the story says, has decided to remain closed on Thanksgiving.
CEO Craig Jelinek explained the reasoning this way a year ago: “Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season, and we simply believe they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families.”
The story continues: "Costco, of course, is often held up as a counterpoint to WalMart’s corporate practices. It’s the second largest retailer in the country, trailing only WalMart, and is publicly traded. It also pays retail employees $20 an hour, its CEO collects a salary of $650,000 a year, and 88% of its employees carry company-sponsored healthcare."
Costco, the story says, has decided to remain closed on Thanksgiving.
CEO Craig Jelinek explained the reasoning this way a year ago: “Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season, and we simply believe they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families.”
The story continues: "Costco, of course, is often held up as a counterpoint to WalMart’s corporate practices. It’s the second largest retailer in the country, trailing only WalMart, and is publicly traded. It also pays retail employees $20 an hour, its CEO collects a salary of $650,000 a year, and 88% of its employees carry company-sponsored healthcare."
- KC's View:
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Thanksgiving is one of those days that I feel strongly about, and on which I wish more retailers would stay closed. Let the madness begin on Friday.
Now, I get that this probably has become impossible, especially because online merchants are open all day on Thanksgiving, and bricks-and-mortar retailers believe they have to respond. But I think that it is great that Costco is bucking the trend … that it is willing to let the madness begin on Friday.
