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It’s that time of the year again to cut the turkey, mash the potatoes, steam the corn, simmer the gravy, bake those sweet bread rolls and give thanks for it all. However, many employees will be missing out on precious family time now that franchises are opening stores for door-buster deals as early as the day before Black Friday.

 What started off as a couple stores opening up a few hours earlier has turned into an epidemic. A chain reaction went off at some point and many retailers now are opening earlier to maximize profits and keep up with competitors.

 This decision has led to more Thanksgiving holidays being ruined for not only the employees but the consumers as well. Black Friday shoppers will now have to line up earlier in order to catch those door buster deals as well. This new pre-game holiday has been dubbed “Gray Thursday.”

 At many clothing and big-box chains, Black Friday has already leaked into “Gray Thursday.”

 Many stores such as Target, Macy’s, and JC Penny will be letting shoppers in at 8 p.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, some stores like Walmart, Kmart and Best Buy will be opening doors as early as 6 p.m.

 Crystal Garcia, Nursing, felt undecided on the situation.

 “I don’t think it’s fair that they force people to work during this time they should have off,” said Garcia. “Then again I’m sure a lot of people could use the overtime.”

 This will surely interfere with the national Holiday Americans have treasured for decades as a celebration that guaranteed a family holiday.

 Erick Flores, psychology, is unhappy with the way this type of unchecked consumerism is affecting society.

 “Something has changed, “he said. “Greed is affecting more and more decisions in big name companies and it’s like they don’t realize that it affects thousands of employees. If I’m thankful for anything this holiday it’s that I don’t work for a big chain company like that.”

 According to the Huffington Post, about one-quarter of all Black Friday shoppers were in the stores at or before midnight last year, compared with just three percent in 2009. Ellen Davis, vice president at the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, told HuffPo that many companies are opening earlier out of fear of losing ground to competitors.

“The customers are driving the bus,” Davis told HuffPo. “If customers weren’t shopping on Thanksgiving night, retailers wouldn’t be open. Some who didn’t open at midnight [last year] may feel they lost out on market share.”

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