If you’ve ever worked retail, you know that Black Friday is one of the worst days of the year. And, in recent years, Black Friday has slowly but surely crept its way into Thanksgiving.
While everyone is supposed to be stuffing their face and spending time with family and friends, some people are out shopping and trying to snag deals, requiring retail workers to be on the job.
Kenwood Towne Centre officials have decided that they are putting a full stop to the Black Friday creep, meaning one of the largest malls in Cincinnati will be closed on Thanksgiving.
The mall announced in October that its doors would stay closed on turkey day.
“We hope this will allow our tenants, shoppers and employees to spend more time with friends, family and loved ones,” officials wrote in a Facebook post.
And the mall isn't alone in putting the kibosh on the shopping insanity. Major national retailers are jumping on the closed-on-Thanksgiving bandwagon.
Last year, Target, Walmart, Kohl's and others all decided to close their doors on the holiday — partially for COVID safety and partially to thank workers for their service — and all said they had a very positive response.
Target announced back in January that they'd be closed again this year. Walmart said they'll be closed as a "thank you to associates for their continued hard work during the pandemic." Kohl's says those who want to shop with them on Thanksgiving can visit kohls.com. Bed Bath & Beyond has decided to close on the holiday as part of its commitment to employee happiness. And Cincinnati Premium Outlets, which is overseen by Simon properties, will be closed to allow "our associates to spend the holiday with their loved ones," said David Simon, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Simon, in a release.
Outdoor outfitter REI is closed on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday for the seventh year, saying "the co-op will forgo profits and sales on the busiest shopping day of the year, and instead pay its more than 15,000 employees to #OptOutside with family and friends."
Here's a list of other stores closed on Thanksgiving, per blackfriday.com:
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Bath & Body Works
- Best Buy
- Costco
- Dick's Sporting Goods
- Foot Locker
- Half-Price Books
- Hobby Lobby
- Home Depot
- HomeGoods
- IKEA
- JCPenny
- Lowe's
- Macy's
- Marshall's
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