Black Friday hasn’t been contained to a single day for several years. But the controversial practice of stores opening up on Thanskgiving could be losing steam.
Sixty retailers contacted by BestBlackFriday.com told the site they would not be open on the holiday. (Most retailers, though, have not announced their plans.)
BestBlackFriday says it expects the list to grow to more than 100 by late November. However, major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, and Macy’s are still expected to open to shoppers Thanksgiving evening. And many of the stores on BestBlackFriday’s list are typically closed on Thanksgiving, including TJ Maxx, Nordstrom, Sam’s Club, and Burlington.
Still, there is growing resistance to retailers opening on Thanksgiving. Last year, CBL Properties announced none of its 62 malls around the country would be open on Turkey Day. (It has not said if it plans to continue that practice this year.)
Last year, the National Retail Federation expected 32 million people to go out shopping on Thanksgiving. That’s down significantly from 2014, when 43 million Americans got an early start on the bargain hunting.
Included among the stores that won’t be open on Thanksgiving are:
- American Girl
- AT&T (company owned stores)
- BJ’s Wholesale Club
- Costco
- Dillard’s
- H&M
- Home Depot
- Lowe’s
- Pier 1 Imports
- Staples
- Stein Mart
Retailers are hoping for a repeat of the 2017 holiday season, which showed an increase of 5.5%, beating NRF forecasts and showing the strongest gains since the great recession. All totaled, Americans spent $691.9 billion.
