boston piggies bust stores for being open on turkey day!!!! dont these piggies have any real criminals to chase down????? Original Article Some Boston-area stores opened Thanksgiving, despite warning November 25, 2005 BOSTON --Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly will investigate all reports of stores that opened illegally on Thanksgiving Day, as several Boston-area supermarkets defied a centuries old law and welcomed shoppers. David Guarino, Reilly's spokesman, told The Boston Globe. "If these stores want to open, there's a way to do it: Change the law." The law enforced by Reilly is part of the so-called Massachusetts Blue Laws. Many of the Puritan-era laws, passed in the 1600s to keep colonists at home or in church on Sundays, have been repealed, such as a ban of liquor sales on Sundays. But one that remains in effect requires all stores, except convenience stores and gas stations, to close on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Last week, Reilly's office told the Whole Foods supermarkets chain it could not stay open on Thanksgiving after a competitor complained. Reilly also warned Wal-Mart, Family Dollar and Big Lots not to open, even as many stores across the country got an early start to the holiday shopping season. Six Boston-area Super 88 Market stores opened up for business Thursday, the Globe reported. At the Quincy location on Hancock Street, police said they learned at 11:30 a.m. the Super 88 was open for business. "We sent one officer up there. We told them they had to shut down, and they did," said Sgt. Agnus McEachern. But police did not close the four Super 88 stores in Boston, and the Malden store also was allowed to operate, police said. Super 88 officials reached Thursday told the Globe that Reilly's warnings were news to them. "We don't celebrate" Thanksgiving, said Rudy Chen, a former manager of the Super 88 in Chinatown who now is working as a senior buyer for the chain's corporate office. Chen said that the store he managed always was open on Thanksgiving, and that he never had received complaints. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/25/bustling_stores_ask_what_blue_laws/ Bustling stores ask: What blue laws? Super 88 says warning missed Shoppers flocked to the Super 88 Market on Allstate Road in Boston yesterday. The store was open despite state blue laws. (Globe Staff Photo / Justine Hunt) By Megan Tench and Chase Davis, Globe Correspondent | November 25, 2005 Blue laws? Huh? News Alerts That was the reaction at the Super 88 Market chain, whose six Boston-area supermarkets were open yesterday despite 17th-century legislation that prohibits large retail stores from operating on Thanksgiving. Managers and employees contacted at five of the Super 88 stores said they knew nothing about the warnings issued by Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly last week telling retailers to stay closed on turkey day or face criminal charges. At the Quincy location on Hancock Street, they found out at 11:30 a.m. yesterday, when police, acting on a tip that the store was abuzz with customers, ordered it to close. ''We sent one officer up there. We told them they had to shut down. And they did," said Quincy police Sergeant Agnus McEachern. But at the Super 88 at the South Bay Center in Dorchester, customers battled for parking. A sign taped to the door read: ''Happy Thanksgiving" and posted holiday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Shoppers' carriages were filled with disposable turkey pans, fresh fish, vegetables, sodas, and milk. A store manager, who declined to give his name, said he was unaware of the centuries-old restrictions. He said the chain, which specializes in Asian foods, closes one day a year, in observation of the Chinese New Year, which falls in January or February. The next Chinese New Year is Jan. 29, 2006. David Guarino, Reilly's spokesman, declined to comment about Super 88 yesterday, but said the attorney general's office would investigate all reports of illegally opened stores. ''Every employer should know the law," he said. ''If these stores want to open, there's a way to do it: Change the law." Police did not close the four Super 88 stores in Boston, a police spokesman said. Likewise, the Malden store was allowed to operate, according to Malden police. Reilly issued his warnings after Whole Foods, the health-oriented supermarket chain, had announced plans to keep its 14 Massachusetts stores open for Thanksgiving to provide customers a chance to buy the fresh organic turkeys. But when officials from its competitor, Shaw's Supermarket, learned of the plans, they wrote a letter to Reilly citing the state's Colonial-era blue laws and asking him to block the Thanksgiving openings. In addition to Whole Foods, Reilly warned Wal-Mart, Family Dollar, and Big Lots not to open. The businesses assured Reilly they would not open; no one answered phones at outlets of these chains in Greater Boston yesterday. Super 88 officials reached yesterday said the warnings were news to them. ''We don't celebrate" Thanksgiving, said Rudy Chen, a former manager of the Super 88 in Chinatown who is now working as a senior buyer for the chain's corporate offices. Chen said in a telephone interview that the store he managed was always open on Thanksgiving, that he was not aware of the law, and that he had never received complaints. ''All the businesses in Chinatown are open. The whole community," he said. ''On holidays, when we have nothing else to do, we go into Chinatown. . . . They are the only businesses that are open." The state's blue laws were first enacted in the 1600s, intended to prevent colonists from straying from church or hearth to drink or transact business. In their current form, the laws ban retailers with more than seven employees from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pharmacies may stay open. Reilly told the Globe this week that tradition, and giving workers a day off, outweighs shopper convenience. ''Thanksgiving is a time when people should be with their families, not working," he said. But not all traditions are the same, said some customers who flocked to the Super 88 in Dorchester yesterday. While some scoured the shelves for holiday fixings, others were huddled by the lobster tub, apparently opting for a Thanksgiving without the traditional stuffed turkey. Some said they didn't know it was illegal for the store to be open. ''I was just driving around, and I saw it," said Edgar Mynor of Chelsea, who was shopping with his teenage son. ''I did my shopping for the week so tomorrow we won't have to do it, and we can spend an extra day with family." Megan Tench can be reached at mtench@globe.com. Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1126bluelaws26.html Stores open on holiday face Mass. penalty Associated Press Nov. 26, 2005 12:00 AM BOSTON - Massachusetts' attorney general is launching an investigation into several supermarkets that opened on Thanksgiving, defying the state's Puritan-era Blue Laws. The laws were passed in the 1600s to keep colonists at home or in church on Sundays. Parts of the laws, such as the ban on Sunday liquor sales, have been repealed, but a prohibition on most stores doing business on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, has not. "If these stores want to open, there's a way to do it: Change the law," David Guarino, a spokesman for Attorney General Thomas Reilly, told the Boston Globe. The office didn't say what sort of penalty the stores could face. The Globe reported that at least six stores, all Super 88 Markets, were open on Thanksgiving. One Super 88, in Quincy, closed after a visit from police that day.