Business

Mall of America Gives Thanksgiving Back to Employees

Mall of America to close on Thanksgiving

The Mall of America is pushing back against the recent trend of Thanksgiving Day shopping by deciding to stay closed on the holiday this year.

That means 1,200 employees who work for the mall will be able to spend the day leisurely eating turkey with their families.

But even though the sales are advertised for the Friday after Thanksgiving, many stores have begun to open on Thanksgiving night, in order to accommodate consumer demands.

According to The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Mall of America will "close down as many of its operations as possible" on Thanksgiving day.

The mall, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, has been open for business on the holiday for the past four years, following the trend set by many other retailers of starting Black Friday sales on Thursday. Renslow said she hoped the delayed opening would "bring that special magic back to Black Friday".

The Friday after Thanksgiving had always been the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

For the first time ever, the mall will also close its movie theater and its Nickelodeon Universe amusement park on Thanksgiving.

At the same time, earlier openings have not led to more revenue for retailers, just spread out shopping over more days, analysts have noted. But over the past several years, Thanksgiving has become the new tradition. Last year, the Mall of America encouraged its stores to open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and more than 150 of its stores did so, a lot of them staying open through the night.

"By closing on Thanksgiving, we're confident we'll still get those strong numbers throughout the Black Friday weekend".

Most national retailers have not yet announced their Thanksgiving or Black Friday hours. A year later it opened at 8:00 p.m.

The mall will still host the Walk to End Hunger on Thanksgiving morning.

stayontheblack.com

Mall of America Gives Thanksgiving Back to Employees