Dropping shopping: Our view

If you’re reading this any place other than in a store or at a shopping mall, congratulations, you’re part of a healthy trend: Not shopping on Black Friday.

And if you ignored the siren call of shopping on Thanksgiving Day itself, then you’re already ahead:  You spent the day doing something more interesting and worthwhile than exercising your credit cards.

Black Friday came of age in the 1980s, kicking off the holiday shopping season. By the mid-2000s, store openings were pushed into the pre-dawn hours. The race to be first ended in tragedy when 2,000 shoppers burst through the doors at a Wal-Mart on Long Island, N.Y., in 2008 and trampled an employee to death moments before the 5 a.m. opening.  All in the name of finding a bargain.

By 2011, several retailers — including Toys “R” Us, Macy’s, Wal-Mart and Target — introduced shopping on Thanksgiving night, turning what was once a day of feasting, family and football into one more day of crass commercialism, one more day for retail workers to be on the job.

Thanksgiving deserves to be celebrated as a holiday all its own. It has been a uniquely American tradition since Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving, a holiday that all families, no matter their race, religion or culture, can share.

Humorist Art Buchwald once called it the “only time during the year” when Americans “eat better than the French do.” That in itself is worth celebrating.

The good news this year is that the public is pushing back against shopping on Thanksgiving Day. Meanwhile, Black Friday is no longer what it once was.

In a survey by Deloitte this fall, 67% of shoppers said they disagreed with stores being open on Thanksgiving, and 23% said they’d be more loyal to retailers that closed.

They’ve also voted with their feet: In 2014, there were 4% fewer shoppers on Thanksgiving Day than in 2013, according to surveys by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics — a small decline, but relevant in an improving economy. (Comparable figures for 2015 are not available.)

This year, more malls and chains are taking the hint: Thanksgiving closures included the giant Mall of America in Minnesota, hhgregg electronics stores, T.J. Maxx and Costco. Some are using the decision to public relations advantage. Outdoor retailing chain REI announced for the second year that it would be closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, creating social media buzz with its #OptOutside campaign.

For other reasons, Black Friday has lost some of its appeal. Foot traffic has been down in recent years. And net sales in stores have declined. Special discounts are offered earlier in November, so there's no point in waiting until Friday. Customers are getting used to shopping online at their leisure: Over the past year, online shopping grew far faster than overall sales, boosted in part by online's continuing unfair sales tax advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

Lest anyone fear the end of shopping orgies, there are plenty of new contenders. In 2014, Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, eclipsed Black Friday for the most foot traffic. This year, there are predictions of new sales records on Dec. 23, which doesn’t yet have a name. How about Frantic Friday?

As an antidote to commercialism, a group of non-profits in 2012 organized Giving Tuesday — otherwise known as the day after Cyber Monday — to encourage activities more in keeping with the spirit of the season. The day generated $117 million in charitable donations last year, but sadly it is still far less known than Black Friday.

None of this is to suggest that there's anything wrong with shopping. Retailing is a huge driver of the U.S. economy, generating jobs in manufacturing and employing more than 10 million retail sales workers.

But for the final Thursday each November, it would be better to give it a rest.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

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