The List Of Shame: Here Are All The Retail Outlets Open On Thanksgiving

It’s time for the annual list of shame, which always comes with a not-so-helpful side of “well, that’s the free market” responses from libertarians whose definition of the “common good” is the almighty hand of Big Business scooping up a few extra bucks from the hungry mouths of American consumers.

According to CNN, the temptation for shopping malls and retailers to stay open on Thanksgiving persists year after year with the rise of consumer confidence. This year, between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, an estimated “165 million people” will be hitting the stores in preparation for Christmas. Sadly, about a quarter of those shoppers will be on the holiday itself, with stores opening around 5 PM or earlier – the time when people (should) be sitting down for dinner.

“We expect the biggest increase in potential shoppers for Thanksgiving Day this year,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights told CNN.

Though Big Business arguably shares deserves some blame for this cultural trend (a modern phenomenon with no historical basis), the people most responsible for this are the consumers themselves. A spokesperson for Best Buy said it best: “Customers have shown that they want to shop on Thanksgiving evening. We want to be there to serve those customers and need to be open for that to happen.”

Mark Mathews, vice president of research development at the National Retail Federation, told CNN the trend to shop on Thanksgiving has been ever-increasing with the diminishing luster of Black Friday.

“There is definitely a big trend here for more people to be shopping on Thanksgiving Day,” said Mathews. “We have seen a shift in emphasis on Black Friday to other days on that weekend.”

As USA Today reported last year, shopping on Thanksgiving phenomenon did not begin until relatively recently and is not an American tradition.

Black Friday gained its name because it was viewed as the day of the year retailers earned profitability, or were ‘in the black.’ Nearly a decade ago, sales slowly started creeping into Thanksgiving and by 2012, most major retailers were open on the fourth Thursday in November.

Despite public outcry and shoppers threatening to boycott, the opening times have moved earlier.

So, without further ado, here is the list of stores open on Thanksgiving Day according to Market Watch and CBS News. Keep in mind, these hours may vary from state to state:

Walmart: OPEN 6 p.m. through Black Friday
Target: OPEN from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Stores reopen at 7 a.m. for Black Friday sales.
Best Buy: OPEN from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Stores open at 8 a.m. on Friday.
Macy’s: OPEN from 5 p.m. Check store locator for local hours.
J.C. Penney: OPEN (most) at 2 p.m.
Dollar General: OPEN 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Old Navy: OPEN from 3 p.m., and will stay open overnight until 11 p.m. on Black Friday
Kohl’s: OPEN from 5 p.m. Black Friday sales start at 12:01 a.m.
Gamestop: OPEN from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sears: OPEN from 6 p.m. to midnight.