Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Flying in the face of a fledgling closed-for-Thanksgiving retail movement, Kmart said it will remain open for 42 consecutive hours, from 6 a.m. Thanksgiving morning to midnight on Black Friday.
Sears stores will remain closed for most of Thanksgiving Day, but will open an hour earlier, at 6 p.m. Thursday evening, and will remain open until the close of business Friday night.
In a statement, Sears Holdings senior VP Leena Munjal thanked seasonal associates and “those who have volunteered to share part of the day serving our members on Thanksgiving.”
She explained, “This holiday season is all about giving more to our members and because many like to start shopping well before Black Friday, we’re excited to open our doors early on Thanksgiving and offer other early-access opportunities for them to shop and save.”
The drive to longer holiday hours has created a mini-backlash among some consumers and store employees, who have resorted to petitions and pledges to support Thanksgiving-observant retailers. While polls show that the vast majority of consumers still plan to shop on Thanksgiving, whether online or in stores, the list of retailers that refuse to partake in turkey-day sales continues to grow, a tabulation by Forbes shows.
CE sellers that will remain closed on Thanksgiving include longtime adherents Costco and P.C. Richard & Son, as well as RadioShack, Sam’s Club, GameStop, Lowe’s, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Barnes & Noble, the report showed.
