Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making a permanent change to the unofficial start of the Christmas season which was discontinued during the pandemic.
To limit the crowds in the stores, retailers were forced last year to turn what had become a weekend shopping barrage into an extended event, and holiday sales began in October.
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Target Announces It Will No Longer Reopen on Thanksgiving Target Will No Longer Open Its Stores on Thanksgiving
Christmas sales in the United States last November and December rose 8.2% in 2020 from the previous year, according to the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail group. The trade group predicts that 2021 could break that record, growing between 8.5% and 10.5%.
Americans, who were able to get the same deals over a longer period of time to ease some of the stresses that go along with the holidays, appeared to embrace the change.
Target’s new standard, in addition to last year’s very good sales, could prompt other retailers to follow suit. Call and distribution centers will be somewhat staffed on Thanksgiving, Target said Monday, but stores will remain closed.
Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving
Target began opening its stores on Thanksgiving a decade ago, teaming up with other retailers to kick off Black Friday sales a day early and create a Christmas fever after the turkey party. Many did so to compete with Amazon.com and other growing online threats.
Some stores and malls, such as the Mall of America in Minnesota, ended practice and remained closed on Thanksgiving. Some, like Costco and Nordstrom, never opened their doors during the holidays, saying they wanted to respect them.
Historically, Thanksgiving hadn’t been a great sales day in general, nor was it a top 10 day, because stores generally opened their doors around 5 p.m. However, it has been a great online sales day. .
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