In a move that’s likely causing plenty of frustration among the employees that work for the company, GameStop has announced today that it’ll be staying open for Thanksgiving this year.
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The policy of closing down shop for the November holiday was hardly around for any time at all before the decision was reversed. Just three years ago, GameStop announced that they’d be closing down for Thanksgiving in order to show respect to their many employees in stores across the nation. They explained the reasoning behind their initial plan to stay closed for the holiday to ThinkProgress in 2014:
At GameStop we often use the phrase “protect the family” in reference to our business. A large part of what that means to us is to not open any of our GameStop, SimplyMac, Spring Mobile or Cricket Wireless U.S. locations on Thanksgiving Day out of respect for our store associates and their families and friends. We believe it’s the right decision not only for our employees, but also for our customers. Enjoy this time with your loved ones and we’ll see you on Black Friday.
Of course, one would assume that the decision to close on Thanksgiving would be much-appreciated by employees who would rather be enjoying time with their families and resting up before the insane spending spree that is Black Friday. But according to a statement that GameStop gave to Kotaku today about their recent decision to stay open on this year’s holiday, they say that their decision-making was partially influenced by employees who supposedly wanted the stores to stay open.
“To better serve our guests with their evolving holiday shopping needs, this year GameStop will open its stores for a shortened and limited time on Thanksgiving Day,” the company said in a statement to Kotaku. “Many of our store associates and guests have asked for this. We have heard their requests and are making an adjustment to our previous position on this topic.”
The shortened time frame that they’ll be open is better than a full day’s work, but it definitely doesn’t beat closing down for the day. Thanksgiving and its surrounding days are always big-sellers for retailers though, so staying open will likely let them cash in on a few more sales that they missed out on after closing for the past two years.
No store hours have been set yet after the announcement, but one would hope that they’ll give employees some kind of break before Black Friday.
[via Kotaku]
