It depresses me to see the inevitable news clip every year of people knocking each other over to get a good deal at 3am. I think Black Friday as a concept is fine, but it has gone to the extreme.
It's unfortunate that those who work in retail can't count on Thanksgiving as a day off.
Growing up, the only thing open on Thanksgiving was the local grocery store, only for a few hours, in case someone had a Thanksgiving day emergency ...they usually closed by noon or 2pm as i recall.