Select Board Member Cites Safety In Black Friday Vote

During their meeting on Monday night the Dartmouth Select Board voted to send letters to the corporate offices of stores like Walmart, Kohl's and the Dartmouth Mall telling them that in 2017 they won't be able to open until 6 a.m on Black Friday.

While some board members cited concern about families spending holidays together, Vice-Chairman Frank Gracie told WBSM's Barry Richard that, for him, it is largely a safety issue saying that Black Friday crowds can be very difficult to control.

"Everybody basically stands in line to try and get that one item that they're offering you at a discount, and there's only one of them, so that results in arguments in the store, outside the store, pushing, shoving, arguments," said Gracie "police have to respond to those things when they get out of hand."

Gracie says that while most stores will have additional staff on hand, they are often unable to handle the large and sometimes raucous crowds.

"They can have their equivalent of Walmart Greeters at the door to help keep people lined up and stuff like that but if a fight breaks out those people are not helpful," said Gracie.

In fact, Gracie says that there have been years when shoppers have been injured.

"We've had ambulance calls that have had to help people that have ended up with a sprained ankle because someone got pushed or shoved," said Gracie "there's a lot more to it than just opening a store and having people walk in."

The Select Board voted to approve applications for businesses that wanted to open at 1 a.m. this year, saying that to make a change at this time would be short notice and wouldn't give businesses in the area enough time to adjust.