Target Announces 10 Months Early It Will Be Closed Thanksgiving D

Target says they had such a positive response, they will remain closed for Thanksgiving day again in 2021. I spoke with a manager at the Target store in Kirkwood Mall in Bismarck, who confirmed that Target would indeed be closed on turkey day.

According to an article on Business Insider, Target made the announcement more than 10 months ahead of the date. The Target chain was one of the first major United States retailers who made the move to protect customers and staff amid surging COVID-19 cases. November coronavirus numbers across the country were skyrocketing and especially here in North Dakota.

So why make this announcement so far in advance with COVID-19 numbers declining in most areas? According to a corporate Target blog post, the policy was introduced to minimize crowds and make shopping less stressful. The response was "so positive" Target has decided to do it again in 2021.

Maybe also coming as a surprise, Target announced a 17% increase in sales over the holiday season year over year.

Target wasn't the only major retailer to close it's stores on Thanksgiving day. I tried to make a Walmart run for a gravy packet on this Thanksgiving, only to find it closed. I was shocked. Walmart this year spread out it's Black Friday sale over several days and limited store capacity to 20%. Seemed very unusual to me at the time, and I was right. Walmart had not been closed on Thanksgiving day since the 1980's, according to the article. Walmart normally keeps normal hours during Thanksgiving and starts it's Black Friday sales later that evening.

Should be interesting to see if Walmart will follow suit like Target, and decides to shut down the Black Friday madness in 2021?