By Caroline Fallon
Staff Reporter
Thanksgiving is a national holiday that has been celebrated all across the United States since 1863.
Every year people start to see Christmas decorations being put up in stores and homes before Thanksgiving has even approached, as if Christmas is overshadowing Thanksgiving.
According to USA Today, some stores across the Unites States have started getting ready for Christmas before Halloween has even passed. Target is one of those stores that starts to bring out its decorations months in advance.
On Oct. 29, 2015, Target released an article explaining to people that they were going to start getting ready for Christmas and revealed their marketing ideas so people can get excited.
“I don’t think that Christmas is overshadowing Thanksgiving at all. It is a good time to go home for a few days and be with your family and friends. But at the same time Christmas deserves the hype and it’s never too early to bring decorations out,” said junior Justin Cole. “I really enjoy doing snow related sports so that’s why I get so excited for Christmas, but I never try to skip right past Thanksgiving to get to Christmas.”
Black Friday is a day that stores all around have deals that they may not have any other day of the year. It is supposed to be the day that kicks off the Christmas season.
It was intended to start the day after Thanksgiving and run all day long, however, as of recently stores have started opening up on Thanksgiving night and staying open until midnight on Friday.
“I personally have never shopped on Black Friday, it’s way too hectic for me. But I do have family members who work at Target and Walmart and now that they open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving they have to leave family dinner early,” said junior Stephanie Cooney. “I don’t think Christmas is overshadowing Thanksgiving at all, I think Christmas is a time that boosts everyone’s spirits and puts everyone in a better mood. But that being said, I would still rather stores not be open on Thanksgiving so I can enjoy time with my extended family that I never get to see.”
While many large retailer stores will still be open on Thanksgiving, according to Pix11, dozens of stores have decided to stay closed on the national holiday and wait until Friday to open.
Many stores have decided to stay closed in order for their employees to spend time with their families. They want to to allow their employees to enjoy one holiday before they start getting ready for the next one.
“I do think that Thanksgiving is sometimes overshadowed by Christmas. However, I don’t think that people forget about Thanksgiving. Everyone enjoys and looks forward to Thanksgiving just as much as Christmas, but it’s easier to celebrate Christmas because there are so many more songs and clichés that come along with it,” said sophomore Jamie Pinilla-O’Dea. “When I saw Sacred Heart putting up their Christmas decorations it gave me hope that the holiday was right around the corner. School gets pretty stressful around this time and it’s nice to see all the festive decorations.”
