Mall threatens to fine stores $200 an hour for being closed on Thanksgiving

[villager]

So much for being home for the holidays.

A shopping mall in upstate New York has apparently threatened to fine retailers the insane sum of $200 an hour if they aren't open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Walden Galleria, the Buffalo mall in question, has more than 200 stores, and the mall apparently revealed the fine in a meeting of store managers last week. This year marks the first that Walden Galleria is opening in the middle of Thanksgiving, managers told The Huffington Post.

Workers aren't happy about the mall's extended hours, either. "It's a family day, it's a holiday, and frankly, it's really getting out of hand with how stores are opening so early," Brian McKnight, manager of the Art of Shaving boutique at Walden Galleria, told The Huffington Post. He said that his store will pay the fine and remain closed on Thanksgiving Day. "It's about having that comfortable work-life balance and respecting my employees' holiday time with their families."

The holiday is apparently no longer a time when Americans can sit down for a nice dinner with their families. This year, retailers around the country, including Macy's, Target, and Walmart, have pledged to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day in addition to Black Friday. Like Columbus Day and Memorial Day before it, Thanksgiving is becoming another day devoted to American consumerism — and a holiday where the increasing numbers of workers no longer have the day off.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/271965/speedreads-mall-threatens-to-fine-stores-200-an-hour-for-being-closed-on-thanksgiving

[Warpy]

1. And morons will pull the precooked turkey from the oven at 11:00 AM

and shove it down their gullets as fast as possible and shop all afternoon.

You can always count on Moron America, you know.

Pretty soon, all our holidays will be gone, it's the best way to cheat workers out of holiday pay.

[pinboy3niner]

2. I take it you're not camping out in line for the Black Friday sales?

What, no Christmas spirit?

[Warpy]

10. Bah, humbug.

[treestar]

13. Exactly

They wouldn't open if nobody came

[snooper2]

16. No, not really, first of all we morons have FOOTBALL to watch thank you very much

Cowboys are going to whip some Eagles ass starting at 3:30 CST-


You are welcome to come over and watch the game then we can go shopping together!

[Liberal Lolita]

3. I wonder if anyone will be able to get there through the snow by Thanksgiving

5 feet of snow, 2 more coming for Buffalo NY. Can they force the stores to open if no one can get to them?
It's a pretty sad commentary on our times when even the store owners can't choose to stay closed on a holiday.
I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving. I don't even shop on Black Friday, not because I have anything against the stores, I just don't want to have to deal with all the morons stampeding through the stores.

[Sherman A1]

4. I see some tenants

that will be looking over their leases very closely with their attorneys and perhaps looking for new locations in the future.

Just don't see this as a winning situation for the mall management in either the short or long terms.

[mnhtnbb]

5. How can they worship at the altar of $$$ if the stores aren't open?

[baldguy]

6. Not to mention the Galleria is buried under 6 feet of snow right now.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. +1

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Do they have a chik filet?

And do they find them for not opening on Sundays?

The snow is almost poetic justice for them...

[JustAnotherGen]

9. I applaud Brian McKnight

I would do the same thing. Pay the fine and move on . . .

[villager]

14. Evidently, holidays themselves are now "revolutionary"

Who knew our owners would make acts of resistance so ubiquitous and simple?

[JustAnotherGen]

15. I'm in the wireless business

So also a 'National Retailer' - we aren't going to be open on Thanksgiving.

There's no point in that at all.

[Initech]

11. Seriously I'm ready for the revolution to start. Fuck this.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a national holiday. What's happening here?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

17. What's happening is what was always going to happen: Corporations are taking over our lives and

profit is the new God.

Request: If you read this and have some good sources/quotes concerning the transition from what we've known to the Company Store paradigm now developing, I would appreciate it. I know there are literary references but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

[hamsterjill]

12. I truly hope there are some good attorneys out there chomping at the bit about this.

With the widespread coverage about this issue this year, I would expect that some "good press" could come out for those stores who refuse to open or pay the fine.

I hope there are some skilled attorneys already parsing the individual lease agreements to see if this is actually legal for the mall to do.