This morning I opened my Retailing Today Email Newsletter and was shocked to find the following headlines:

“Target extends store hours in areas hit by blizzard”

“Borders extends store hours in snow-affected cities”

“Online retailers extend shipping date in wake of snowstorm”

“Kmart to open for 64 hours, celebrities offer gift ideas”

“Macy’s to open 12 stores 24/7 for holiday shopping”

Certainly this is not an extension of hours and online shipping dates to help consumers snowed in.  Rather it is a way for retailers to bring in some extra sales during what was expected to be a fair holiday shopping season.

For some retailers though, like Macy’s, staying open has been part of the retailer’s strategy.  Macy’s has been offering 24/7 shopping at 12 retail locations for the past 4 years.  Kmart on the other hand will keep 352 stores across the country open for 64 consecutive hours from Dec. 22 at 6 a.m. to Dec. 24 at 10 p.m. to help last-minute shoppers.

Personally, I think this is crazy.  I have worked retail during holiday breaks from college and for retail personnel Christmas is something they dread (and that was when retail hours weren’t that bad).

My biggest concern is when will this stop?  Pretty soon all retailers will start following suite… unless no one is shopping during their extended hours.  Even if I wasn’t done with my Christmas shopping, I would refuse to support these retailers ridiculous hours!