In the race to capture as many holiday shoppers as possible, many large retailers and malls in recent years have pushed their Black Friday opening from the early hours of the morning into the early evening of Thanksgiving Day itself.
Lackluster sales results on those days and a consumer backlash to “save Thanksgiving” and allow both employees and shoppers to enjoy the holiday at home with their families has a number of retailers reversing course.
A new survey from BestBlackFriday.com finds that more than half of Americans think stores should be closed on Thanksgiving, and fewer than one in five favor stores being open that day.
Related: The 6 Kinds of Black Friday Shoppers
This year, the Mall of America, the biggest mall in the country, has announced that it’s reversing course and closing on Thanksgiving Day. Mall developer CBL, which owns 72 malls across the country, will keep its properties closed this year after opening them at 6 p.m. last year. Retailers HHGreg and Office Max have made similar announcements.
Not all retailers have made the switch, however. Macy’s has moved up its Thanksgiving Day opening for 2016 to 5 p.m. from 6 p.m. Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy haven’t announced their Thanksgiving Day plans yet, but they’re expected to open their doors on Turkey Day again.
Among those surveyed by BestBlackFriday.com, more than a quarter said that they would shop in stores on Thanksgiving Day, and 14 percent said they would shop online only. More than six in 10 consumers said they wouldn’t shop at all.
