Target is keeping its stores closed permanently on Thanksgiving Day, according to an Associated Press report on Monday (Nov. 22), indefinitely extending a practice that started when the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic caused retailers to change the way they approach the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
Last year, U.S. holiday sales in November and December were up 8.2% from 2019, according to The National Retail Federation (NRF), which expects that holiday sales will grow by 8.5-10.5% in 2021.
“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,” Target CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a note to employees.
Target distribution and call centers will be partially staffed on Thanksgiving, but all stores will be closed. That will end a decade-long tradition of following other retailers that couldn’t wait for Black Friday to start offering their sweeping discounts to shoppers who were eager to take advantage of them.
While the retailers were trying to curb competition from Amazon and other online retailers by opening on Thanksgiving, the practice often put a dent in Black Friday sales and led to blowback about the companies forcing their employees to work on a family holiday.
Last year, Thanksgiving Day trailed only Cyber Monday and Black Friday in online sales, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.
Related news: Study: Nearly Half of US Consumers Are Already Holiday Shopping
The 2021 Holiday Shopping Outlook study, a PYMNTS and Kount collaboration, shows that about one-quarter of consumers wait until Black Friday to start holiday shopping and 11% are waiting until Cyber Monday. Almost half (48%) have made or plan to make holiday-related purchases before Thanksgiving.
About 9% will wait until after Cyber Monday but before Christmas week to start shopping, with about 3% starting their shopping the week of Christmas. Consumers plan to spend about the same amount on gifts this year as they did last year, at 55% of overall consumers, while 19% say they’ll be spending more.
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