By Emily Jane Fox
NEW YORK -- For bargain happy shoppers, Black Friday means "doorbuster deals."
For retail workers, Black Friday means irate customers, long lines and pulling a 24-hour shift without sleep.
"(Customers) say things they shouldn't have. It just wasn't nice," says Curtis West, who worked 19 Black Fridays over the course of his 24 years as an employee at
Macy's. West doesn't work there anymore, but when he first started at the Macy's flagship store in New York City, Black Friday sales started at 5 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. Now, the store plans to open at midnight.
The post-Thanksgiving tradition is now starting sooner than ever -- almost competing with late holiday feasting on Thanksgiving Day.
Toys R Us,
Sears,
Walmart and
Target are all opening their doors between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Store employees have to show up even earlier to prepare for the retail rush. Others have to lose sleep as they work long, hectic overnight shifts at stores that remain open all hours of the night.
Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski said that Macy's waits until after Thanksgiving to open so that associates can spend the day with family. He said that the store asks for volunteers to staff the overnight shift and it gets a good response.
But according to West, working on Black Friday wasn't much of a choice. That's because Macy's only pays workers for time off on Thanksgiving if they work both the day before and the day after the holiday, he said.
For West, the pressure came from both ends.
At home, his family was upset with him for spending less time during the holiday with them.
At work, the mile-long lines of shoppers, the opening of Santa Land and the mad dash for limited quantities of deeply discounted items soon devolved into a nightmare for employees.
"It's a very stressful atmosphere for workers," he said. "Everyone's in a rush. They want the sale and then they want to get out of there and get to Kmart."
- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 5,200<br />
<br />
A staple of many shopping malls across the nation, the gourmet gift basket retailer relies heavily on holiday sales to add to its profits. A privately held company, <a href="http://aol.careerbuilder.com/jobs/company/Hickory+Farms/?siteid=cbaol95int" target="_blank">Hickory Farms</a> perennially <a href="http://www.livetradingnews.com/no-large-increase-in-us-retail-seasonal-hiring-on-tap-87212.htm" target="_blank">hires as many as 6,000 seasonal workers</a> to work at its stores, which it calls "Holiday Gift Centers." Though many jobs involve interacting with customers, the company also needs additional workers to fill stock and labor positions, which may include driving in some locations, it says.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 50,000+<br />
<br />
Though it has no bricks-and-mortar stores to staff, Amazon.com Inc.'s <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/16/amazon-com-looks-to-fill-50-000-seasonal-jobs/" target="_blank">seasonal hiring plans</a> are nonetheless robust. It needs plenty of additional workers to help fill orders and keep products moving through its warehouses nationwide. The Seattle-based company, which is unveiling a new line of Kindle-brand electronic readers and tablets, also plans to add 2,000 new jobs at three new distribution centers to help deal with demand driven by the new devices.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 52,700<br />
<br />
The department store operator announced it September that it would ramp up holiday hiring by more than 10 percent from last year to support its business in stores and online. Wisconsin-based Kohl's Corp., which operates 1,134 stores in 49 states, plans to hire an average of 41 workers at each store, a 4 percent increase from last year. The company also expects <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/09/18/kohls-increases-holiday-hiring-plans/" target="_blank">to add about 5,700 seasonal positions</a> at distribution centers and more than 30 seasonal credit operations jobs.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal job openings</strong>: 45,000<br />
<br />
The former No. 1 seller of toys in the U.S., Toys R Us Inc. credits a gradually improving economy and an increase in consumer spending for its decision <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/09/25/toys-r-us-to-add-45000-seasonal-hires/" target="_blank">to hire 11 percent more seasonal workers</a> than the 40,000 it did in 2011. Of those it hired last year, Toys R Us says roughly 15 percent of them were kept on after the holiday sales season ended.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal job openings</strong>: 50,000+<br />
<br />
The holidays are the busiest time of year for the world's largest retailer and the company plans <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/09/21/walmart-to-hire-more-than-50k-for-us-holiday-rush/" target="_blank">to hire more than 50,000 temporary workers</a> to help keep store shelves and move customers through checkout lines as the 2012 holiday season approaches. Walmart Stores Inc. also plans to give existing employees the chance to work more hours during the season, acknowledging complaints among some workers who said they weren't able to work as many hours as they would have liked.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: up to 90,000<br />
<br />
Though far smaller than rival Walmart, the nation's No. 2 retailer nonetheless plans <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2012/09/18/target-seasonal-hiring-plans.html" target="_blank">to hire plenty of holiday season workers</a> in 2012. The Minnesota-based company plans to add 80,000 to 90,000 seasonal jobs, down a bit from the 92,000 it hired last year. Hiring forecasts are likely be held in check by Target's expectations of an "ultracompetitive" holiday sales season. Target Corp., along with Walmart, is keeping an eye on expenses, which of course includes labor costs, so as to lower prices and stimulate sales.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 80,000<br />
<br />
The king of all department stores, Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. said it's <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/01/macys-to-hire-80000-seasonal-workers/" target="_blank">hiring nearly 3 percent more</a> seasonal staff than it did last year, in anticipation of higher holidays sales.<span id="articleText"> Sales associates and call center employees are among the positions Macy's is looking to fill, which also include those in its distribution and fulfillment centers, to support the department store operator's growing online business</span>. <br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal Job Openings:</strong> 24,000<br />
<br />
Best Buy Co. plans to hire about <a href="http://pr.bby.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=244152&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1745514&highlight=" target="_blank">9,000 more seasonal workers</a> as it did last year, though this year's number is still below the 29,000 it hired in 2010. In July, the world's largest consumer electronics chain cut 600 of its "Geek Squad" employees in response to weak sales. The boost in seasonal hiring is helping to contribute to what analysts say is the best year of seasonal-job creation that the U.S. has seen in five years.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal Job Openings:</strong> 17,000<br />
<br />
Much like Best Buy, GameStop has seen its sales erode as more and more consumers turn to buying online. Faced with strong competitors such as Amazon, GameStop has nonetheless managed to hold its own in terms of sales and profits. As with most retailers, the Grapevine, Texas-based company derives much of its sales during the all-important holiday sales season -- and its more than 4,400 stores in the U.S. need more staff to help keep those cash registers ringing.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal Job Openings: </strong>40,000<br />
<br />
J.C. Penney Co. has struggled to remake its namesake JCPenney stores into a retail business that's more modern and less reliant on discounts to draw customers. And the coming holiday shopping season will be an important test of whether the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444657804578048961923973452.html" target="_blank">signs of improvement</a> that Plano, Texas-based company has lately been showing are real or not. Sales are expected to be tepid this holiday season, but at least one company representative says that won't affect the need for seasonal workers. "[It] looks like there will be another increase this year over <a href="http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Holiday-hiring-season-begins/iUQ9G4W9mk6r7wJeQu38jA.cspx" target="_blank">last year's hiring</a>," said, Bob Parker, a site manager for JCPenney in Sarasota, Fla., "probably by as much as 10 to 20 percent in some cases."<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal Job Openings: </strong>20,000<br />
<br />
The fall is prime season for privately held Party City Holdings Inc., which is perhaps best known as a seller of Halloween costumes. But the retailer also sells party supplies and seasonal decorations, which result in a steady flow of customers this time of year. The Rockaway, N.J.-based company has 600 stores nationwide. In addition to its namesake Party City stores, it also operates The Paper Factory, Halloween City and Factory Card & Party Outlet shops.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 20,000<br />
<br />
It takes a lot more workers to help move the millions of boxes and packages Americans send to each other each holiday season. And though FedEx Corp. expects shipping volume will be up 13 percent, it's <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/22/fedex-to-add-20000-seasonal-workers-shipping-up-13-percent/" target="_blank">hiring about as many workers</a> as it did last holiday season. The company says it can stick with the same number of seasonal workers as last year because it has been hiring staff throughout 2012.<br />
<br />
The Memphis, Tenn.-based company, which is closely watched as an indicator of consumer demand and economic health, anticipates handling more than 280 million shipments during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Competitor UPS added about 55,000 workers for the holidays last year, 10 percent more than it hired in 2010.<br />
<br />
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- <p>
<strong>Seasonal</strong><strong> job openings</strong>: 55,000</p>
<p>
With expectations of delivering 527 million packages this holiday season, UPS Inc. is adding <a href="http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/29/ups-to-hire-55-000-seasonal-workers-to-handle-higher-holiday-vol/" target="_blank">55,000 workers</a> to sort, load and deliver packages, the same number it hired last year, but 10 percent higher than in 2010. Based on the company's forecast, it appears those and full-time UPS workers will be busiest during the final week before the Christmas holiday. UPS says 28 million, or 5 percent of packages, will be delivered Thursday, Dec. 20 -- projected to be the busiest of the year.</p>
<p>
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"Doorbusters" make things more hectic. Customers get frustrated after waiting hours for deals that sell out even before they get in the store. And workers usually bear the brunt of customers' anger.
"When the store runs out of merchandise the day of advertising, no one understands why you don't have it," West said. "Normally, it's hard to get a manager to deal with the issue."
Black Friday traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season each year. Stores consider it the most important time of the year, because they can make up to 40 percent of their annual sales in the November-December period.
West isn't the only store employee upset about working Black Friday. Last week, more than 20 new petitions were created on Change.org calling on retailers to push back their opening times so that workers can spend Thanksgiving at home.
One of the petitions, started by Target employee Casey St. Clair, has nearly 170,000 supporters on the advocacy website. St. Clair is asking Target to "take the high road and save Thanksgiving for employees."
A Target spokesperson said the store's opening time was carefully evaluated. "Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest of the year, and we appreciate our Target team's flexibility on this weekend and throughout the holiday season," she said.
Walmart workers also have started a campaign to fight against the store's 8 p.m. open time. OUR Walmart, an organization of Walmart workers, has been speaking out against the retailer's holiday hours.
In the 22 hours after the group
shared a photo of an angry cat on its Facebook page with the caption, " 'Like' if you think Thanksgiving should stay a day for family not working and shopping," the photo got over 1,100 likes, 240 "shares" and 100 comments.
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![<p> <strong>Seasonal Job Openings: </strong>40,000<br /> <br /> J.C. Penney Co. has struggled to remake its namesake JCPenney stores into a retail business that's more modern and less reliant on discounts to draw customers. And the coming holiday shopping season will be an important test of whether the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444657804578048961923973452.html" target="_blank">signs of improvement</a> that Plano, Texas-based company has lately been showing are real or not. Sales are expected to be tepid this holiday season, but at least one company representative says that won't affect the need for seasonal workers. "[It] looks like there will be another increase this year over <a href="http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Holiday-hiring-season-begins/iUQ9G4W9mk6r7wJeQu38jA.cspx" target="_blank">last year's hiring</a>," said, Bob Parker, a site manager for JCPenney in Sarasota, Fla., "probably by as much as 10 to 20 percent in some cases."<br /> <br /> <em><strong>Looking for a job at JCPenney? <a href="http://aol.careerbuilder.com/jobs/company/JCPenney/?siteid=cbaol95gal" target="_blank">Click here to get started</a></strong>.</em></p>](http://www.blogcdn.com/jobs.aol.com/articles/media/2012/10/jc-penney-1040jt101812.jpg){kind=link}
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