Thanksgiving 2016 Store Closures: Which Retailers Won't Be Open?

UPDATED 10:40 p.m. Oct. 21 — As soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are packed away and the snoring begins from stuffed bellies, millions of Americans race to the mall to cash in on door-buster savings. Debate has been fierce in recent years as Black Friday spills over into Thanksgiving evening; some object to employees having to work that night, while some workers love getting paid double or triple time.

The pushback has dozens of national stores vowing to keeps their doors closed on Thanksgiving 2016. Those taking the day off from the Nov. 24 shopping frenzy include Apple, Barnes & Noble, Burlington Coat Factory, DSW, Nordstrom and T.J. Maxx.

And in a change from past years, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, will stay shuttered on Thanksgiving, and open at 5 a.m. on Black Friday. The mall has been open on Thanksgiving Day since 2012, but mall officials told The Associated Press they want to offer workers time with their families on the holiday.

Retailing experts are waiting to see if the change of heart by the country’s largest mall will prompt other retailers to do the same. So far, BestBlackFriday.com says 42 stores will be closed on Thanksgiving — see the full updated list below, which has grown. On Oct. 12, national electronics retailer hhgregg added its company to the list of closures.

Three states — Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine — have laws that require stores to close on holidays.

National retailers that will open on Thanksgiving include: Best Buy, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Sears, Target and Walmart. Hours for Thanksgiving and Black Friday have not yet been announced by all of the chains yet, although Macy's will open at 5 p.m. that day and Kohl's is schedule for a 6 p.m. opening.

Consumers are ready to buy, and one forecaster expects sales in November and December to increase a healthy 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, says the National Retail Federation. That’s significantly higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent and above the seven-year average of 3.4 percent since recovery began in 2009. Online sales should increase between 7 and 10 percent to as much as $117 billion.

“All of the fundamentals are in a good place, giving strength to consumers and leading us to believe that this will be a very positive holiday season,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “This year hasn’t been perfect, starting with a long summer and unseasonably warm fall, but our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and industry expectations.”

Here is the updated BestBlackFriday.com and TheBlackFriday.com list of stores closed on Thanksgiving:

• A.C. Moore (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• AAFES
• Academy Sports + Outdoors
• American Girl
• AT&T (Customer Service closed; select retail locations closed)
• Barnes & Noble (Allow booksellers to spend time with family)
• Bed Bath & Beyond (Select locations)
• BJ’s Wholesale Club
• Blain’s Farm & Fleet (Allow employees to enjoy the holiday with their families)
• Burlington Coat Factory (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• Cabela’s (Retail closed; call centers open)
• Christmas Tree Shops (Select locations)
• Costco
• Crate and Barrel
• Dillard’s (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• Fred Meyer
• GameStop (5 a.m. Black Friday opening)
• Gardner-White Furniture (8 a.m. Black Friday opening)
• Guitar Center
• Half Price Books
• Hhgregg
• Hobby Lobby
• Home Depot
• HomeGoods (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• IKEA
• Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores
• Jos. A. Bank
• Lowe’s
• Mall of America
• Marshalls (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• Mattress Firm
• Menards
• Mills Fleet Farm
• Navy Exchange
• Neiman Marcus
• Nordstrom (non-store employees working)
• Nordstrom Rack
• Office Depot
• Outdoor Research
• P.C. Richard & Son
• Patagonia
• Petco
• PetSmart
• Pier 1 Imports (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• Publix
• Raymour and Flanagan Furniture (8 a.m. Black Friday opening)
• REI
• Sam’s Club
• Sierra Trading Post
• Staples
• The Container Store
• T.J. Maxx (Allow employees to spend time with family)
• Tractor Supply
• Von Maur (9 a.m. Black Friday opening)

»Patch file photo