RELATED: Walmart Shoppers Are Outraged the Store Is Getting Rid of This. Target has decided to make a permanent change in how its stores operate on Thanksgiving Day from this year on. The retailer will no longer open on this day, effectively barring shoppers from shopping in store on the holiday, as indicated by a memo sent to employees from Target CEO Brian Cornell, CNBC reported. The company said on Nov. 22 that Target distribution and call centers will have some staff working on Thanksgiving Day, but its retail stores will remain closed on this day every year.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb RELATED: Kroger Just Said Shoppers Are Barred From Doing This in Stores. This is not the first year Target has closed down its stores on Thanksgiving Day. According to CNBC, the retailer started opening its stores on this holiday in 2011, as other retailers began kicking off Black Friday sales early. But for the first time in nearly a decade, Target chose not to open a day early for Black Friday 2020 in order to make “the holiday shopping experience simple, safe, and stress-free” amid the spread of COVID. “What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard—one that recognizes our ability to deliver on our guests’ holiday wishes both within and well beyond store hours,” Cornell wrote in his note to employees, per CNBC. According to CNBC, Target, like many other retailers, turned Black Friday into an extended event in 2020 by introducing various holiday sales as early as October in order to limit the number of people in stores at one time. And this year is no different. “We began offering holiday deals in October for those looking to shop early and we’re continuing to deliver big savings all season long, including Black Friday week,” Christina Hennington, Target’s executive vice president and chief growth officer, said in a statement released Nov. 15. Black Friday week deals have already started as well. According to Target’s announcement, these deals began both online and in stores on Nov. 21 and will extend to Nov. 27—except in stores on Nov. 25. “As announced in January, all Target stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Most stores will reopen at 7 a.m. local time on Black Friday, Nov. 26,” Target states on its website. RELATED: For more retail news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Target is not the only retailer closing store doors for Thanksgiving Day 2021. In June, Walmart announced that it would close all its U.S. store locations on Nov. 25 this year as a “thank you” to employees for their hard work during the pandemic. Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Costco, and Macy’s are some of the other retailers who have already announced store closures for Thanksgiving Day this year, according to NBC-affiliate WFLA. These retailers have not yet said whether these will be permanent changes, like Target. But many of these stores were also forced to close on this day last year due to the pandemic, and it did not affect retail profits. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), U.S. holiday sales in November and December rose 8.2 percent in 2020 from the previous year, especially as many consumers turned to online holiday shopping to avoid COVID exposure. As a result, retailers like Target might not feel the need to open up stores on Thanksgiving Day going forward, CNBC noted. RELATED: Walmart Won’t Accept This From Customers, Starting Dec. 15.
