Talk About Town: Should the 'Black Friday Creep' Be Stopped?

The trend for stores to open earlier and earlier to take advantage of Black Friday sales—even to the point of opening in the evening on Thanksgiving Day—has prompted an online petition drive to give Thanksgiving back to employees and their families.

The original petition was reportedly created by a Target employee upset that the retail giant is opening on Thanksgiving and requiring employees to work instead of spending time with their families.

Target stores, including the one in Hartland, will open their doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there are more than 211,000 signatures on the petition.

A press release from Change.org reported that they have seen dozens of new petitions pop up about Black Friday hours.

The New York Daily News reported that "copycat" petitions have also been created asking Macy’s, Best Buy, Old Navy and Kohl’s to reconsider their plans to open at midnight on Thanksgiving.

Here are just some of the more than 40 trending “Save Thanksgiving” petitions on Change.org:
https://www.change.org/petitions/target-take-the-high-road-and-save-thanksgiving
https://www.change.org/petitions/target-don-t-take-away-thanksgiving
https://www.change.org/petitions/sears-holdings-stop-sears-stores-from-opening-thanksgiving-day

So, Hartland Patch wants to know: Are Black Friday specials getting out of hand and starting to replace the Thanksgiving holiday itself? Do you look forward to Black Friday? Or is Black Friday something that you avoid?

Tell us in comments.

In this Thursday morning feature, we want to hear your opinions about certain topics making headlines. We'll be looking for your feedback in the comment section weekly. And we want to know what the Talk About Town is in your circles. Email Tatum at tatum.ryan@patch.com and it could be a topic of a future Talk About Town.