Walmart will close for Thanksgiving this year
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Closing for Thanksgiving for the first time in roughly a decade, Walmart has made the decision to give employees the day off prior to one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Black Friday. The same goes for the Sam’s Club warehouse club chain, but that retailer is typically closed for Thanksgiving just like Costco.
The last time Walmart was closed for Thanksgiving was 2010. The retailer opened at midnight, just after Thanksgiving expired. Since 2010, the opening time was pushed earlier and earlier into Thanksgiving. As of holiday 2019, Walmart opened at 6 p.m. local time.
Of course, this shift is unlikely to alter when Walmart offers Black Friday deals online. If anything, it may push the start time to an earlier point in order to expand sales. Last year, Walmart started offering Black Friday prices on the Wed. preceding Thanksgiving at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
Walmart will be open for normal hours on Wednesday and will announce the opening hours for Black Friday at a later date.
It’s likely Walmart will also have to announce some form of crowd control to protect customers against spreading coronavirus when lined up outside stores this year. Best Buy has used a ticket system in the past that assigns doorbusters to people in line to avoid crowds rushing the door at opening.