More stores are closing on Thanksgiving Day, and the overwhelming majority of people are fine with that. It's called Gray Thursday.
Ten or 15 years ago, stores were opening up earlier and earlier for Black Friday, eventually creeping into the night before and eventually Thanksgiving Day. Texas Retailer's Association CEO and President George Kelemen said it's actually smart business practice for brick and mortar stores to close on Thanksgiving Day.
“You don’t necessarily need to be open in a physical space anymore to generate sales and to kick off your holiday sales season, if you’re a retailer, if you’ve got the capability to do it online,” said Kelemen.
He said you can save on operating expenses and employee salary by taking the day off—if you’re online presence is big enough.
“You could keep that store closed for that day, save a little money there, extend the holiday to your employees and keep employee morale up and know you’re still going to get a lot of sales, and maybe perhaps more than you would’ve gotten in the door in a much more direct way,” said Kelemen.
H-E-B will close early on Thanksgiving (open from six am to 2 pm)
Stores closing on Thanksgiving Day:
A.C. Moore
Abt Electronics
Academy Sports + Outdoors
At Home
BJ’s Wholesale Club
Blain’s Farm and Fleet
Burlington
Cabela’s
Cost Plus World Market
Costco
Craft Warehouse
Crate and Barrel
DSW - Designer Shoe Warehouse
Ethan Allen
Gardner-White Furniture
Guitar Center
H&M
Half Price Books
Harbor Freight
Hobby Lobby
Home Depot
HomeGoods
Homesense
IKEA
JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores
Jos. A. Bank
La-Z-Boy (all corporately owned stores)
Lowe’s
Marshalls
Mattress Firm
Micro Center
Music & Arts
Neiman Marcus
Office Depot and OfficeMax
Outdoor Research (also closed Black Friday)
P.C. Richard & Son
Party City
Patagonia
Petco
PetSmart
Pier 1 Imports
Publix
Raymour & Flanigan Furniture
Sam’s Club
Sierra Trading Post
Sportsman's Warehouse
Sprint (Corporate & Dealer Owned Stores; Mall Kiosks May Open)
Staples
Sur La Table
The Container Store
The Original Mattress Factory
TJ Maxx
Tractor Supply
Trollbeads
Von Maur
West Marine