Thousands of people are vowing to spend Thanksgiving Day anywhere but in a store through a Facebook page called "Boycott Black Thursday."
The page on Tuesday shared an image of a button that said "I'm not shopping on Thanksgiving Day!" The image was shared nearly 50,000 times by Thursday afternoon and had more than 12,000 reactions.
The message resonated with shoppers and retailer workers alike.
"I remember my dad making sure the car was filled up the day before holidays. ... because a lot of service stations were closed," Jim Snyder wrote in response to the post. "Amazing how we have become a country where every opportunity to sell is exploited and any desire to purchase must be satiated."
Black Thursday is the name given to sales that run on Thanksgiving Day, a spinoff of traditional Black Friday sales.
"I'm not shopping because I'll (be) working," Darlene Spurlock wrote on the "Boycott Black Thursday" post. "Not all retailers (are) getting the message. So when (you) shop, we can't enjoy the day with our families like you do. Boycott Black Thursday, so we can all enjoy the holiday with family and friends!"
Thanksgiving Day sales at brick-and-mortar stores dropped from just over $2 billion in 2014 to $1.8 billion last year, according to Practical Ecommerce. Citing retail research firm ShopperTrak, Practical Ecommerce reported a 10 percent drop in shopping at "physical stores," although it noted that digital sales on Thanksgiving Day were "up by double digits."
About the Author
