'Black Friday Creep' Spurs Online Petition Drives to 'Save Thanksgiving'

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 at the Vintage Oaks shopping center in Novato, will open their doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. A store operator in Novato confirmed that doors will stay open from 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving through the regular closing time of 11 p.m. Friday.

As of Tuesday morning, there are more than 193,000 signatures on the petition, started by "C Renee" from Corona, California. 

Check out the petition here.

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

"Following a Sears announcement last week that the company would open store doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, Change.org users launched more than 40 new petitions calling on retailers to allow families to spend Thanksgiving together and stick to Black Friday opening times," the press release stated.

Jim Wissick from San Jose wrote, "WTF is wrong with you Target? Change the opening to Friday or you will see NO business from me this holiday season."

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

While stores seem to be making a push to kick off Black Friday sales earlier and earlier every year, 2012 has the longest possible shopping season, thanks to Abe Lincoln, who decreed Thanksgiving a national holiday, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who signed into law that it should fall on the fourth Thursday in November, and Pope Gregory XIII, who blessed the calendar we use by papal bull.

To explain: With Nov. 1 falling on Thursday, the fourth Thursday and Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, couldn't fall any sooner. And that means there is more time – the most time any year can provide – for shoppers to shop and businesses to reap bounty.

What do you think? Are Black Friday specials getting out of hand and starting to replace the Thanksgiving holiday itself?