Why Walmart Will Close on Thanksgiving For the Fourth Year in a Row
For the fourth year in a row, Walmart will close its doors on Thanksgiving.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company confirmed that all of its supercenters and neighborhood markets will be closed on Thanksgiving, Nov. 23, 2023, a testament to the longevity of a new post-pandemic retail trend gaining momentum across the industry.
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“Hey, Walmart associates. I am delighted to share that once again, we’ll be closing our stores for Thanksgiving this year,” Walmart CEO John Furner said in a new video shared to X on Monday. “Thanksgiving is such a special day during a very busy season. We want you to spend that day at home with family and loved ones, whether it’s eating a great meal, watching some football or whatever your traditions are. We all have so much to be thankful for this year, and I’m especially thankful for the opportunity to work with all of you.”
Walmart stores are currently set to open during normal hours on Black Friday, or between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. for most stores. Sam’s Club locations will also be shut for the day, as they have in previous years.
In 2019, the retailer opened stores for regular hours on Thanksgiving day, though Black Friday deals did not kick off until 6 p.m. local time. Walmart closed on Thanksgiving for the first time in 2020.
“It’s a thing of the past,” Furner previously said of Thanksgiving hours in a 2022 interview with “The Today Show” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. “All of our associates will be able to spend time with their loved ones this year.”
Walmart said in a statement that closing stores on Thanksgiving was “just one way we are saying thank you to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year.”
In September 2022, Walmart announced a goal to hire 40,000 new associates — both seasonal and full-time — in roles across stores, delivery, customer service and truck driving. The hiring goals fall short of 2021’s goals, when Walmart said it was looking to hire 150,000 employees for mainly long-term roles meant for the holidays and beyond, as well 20,000 associates for supply chain roles.
Walmart operates over 5,335 retail units in the U.S., including 4,717 Walmart stores and 600 Sam’s Club stores, as of January.
In recent years, other chains such as Target, Dicks’ Sporting Goods and Best Buy have also opted to close its stores and give workers Turkey Day off. Thus far in 2023, Costco, Kohl’s, Target — and now Walmart — have announced Thanksgiving closures, while other stores have yet to make announcements.
In 2022, REI notably made the decision to permanently close its stores every year on Black Friday after closing its doors on Black Friday every year since 2015. The annual practice, dubbed “Opt Outside,” was launched as a way to allow workers to spend time with family and friends during the Thanksgiving Day weekend and encourage shoppers to spend some time outside.
In 2021, Target also announced plans to permanently close all of its stores on Thanksgiving, which it has done annually ever since.
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