Retail Employees Petition To Keep Black Friday on Friday

A Target employee from Omaha, Nebraska, is leading the pack. He has started an online petition.

He and thousands of others want to spend Thanksgiving with family instead of preparing for a Black Friday shift.

Black Friday has gone to the turkeys. Target shoppers will no longer wait for a 5 a.m. opening. The store plans to open its doors at midnight.

One Target employee is dreading the day.

"I started thinking about it and realized we're going to be working overnight. And if we wanted to be rested for this, we need to go to bed at one or two in the afternoon," Anthony Hardwick said.

So, Hardwick created a petition.

His 100,000 supporters agree: Black Friday should stay on Friday and not Thanksgiving.

"All I want is just this one day to spend with my family and that's all anybody else wants," Hardwick said.

But not every retail business is trying to outdo the competition. Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based company, is keeping to its Christian family values. Employees don't work on Sundays and won't be clocking in on Thanksgiving.

"It's just a little much, you know?" Tammi Cypert said. "There are plenty of shopping days left for Christmas. What's one day?"

She will enjoy the holiday with family.

"Just spend that day thankful for our jobs and our family," she said.

And then come back to work, stocking shelves, and helping customers on Black Friday.

"It's really not bad. It's completely about the customer."

And that's who the retail giants are trying to please for the 2011 shopping season.

As for Hardwick's campaign? Target said it will still open its doors at midnight.

Target said in a statement that their customers have told them that they want to shop following their Thanksgiving celebrations rather than only having the option of getting up in the middle of the night.