For the last half-decade or so, the beginning of Black Friday has gradually crept back, with mainstream American retailers giving the shopping holiday precedence over the actual holiday, opening on Thanksgiving Day. Then the trend reversed, as retailers came to realize that they could harvest good publicity by staying closed on the holiday and making sure that the public knows it. We’re guessing that they didn’t earn enough money to make opening on the holiday worth their while.

Some new stores that are confirmed to be closed on Thanksgiving Day include American Girl, GameStop, Hhgregg, Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack, Office Depot, Sam’s Club, and TJMaxx.

An entire mall chain has also announced that it will be closed: CBL Properties out of Chattanooga, TN announced that it’s moving its Black Friday opening time at more than 70 malls back to 6:00 AM on Friday.

“We want to bring back the excitement of Black Friday shopping as the true start of the holiday shopping season,” the company’s president and CEO said in a statement about the change.

What most of these stores have in common is that they’re purchases that can wait. While it’s hard to duplicate the thrill of pawing through racks of clothing at off-price chains like Nordstrom Rack and TJMaxx online, there are other kinds of shopping that you can do easily from your smartphone while watching a football game or waiting for the potatoes to boil. GameStop, which quit playing the Thanksgiving game last year, and Hhgregg cater to people who are tech-savvy and know how to shop online.

Like last year, we’ll probably see mall anchors like Best Buy, Macy’s, Old Navy, JCPenney, and Sears open early, and big boxes like Kmart, Target, Walmart, and Toys ‘R’ Us open up on Thanksgiving Day to keep the Black Friday arms race going. For other retailers, this new “tradition” isn’t worth it anymore.

If they could count on huge sales, we’re guessing that they probably wouldn’t be as concerned about their employees’ family time.

These retailers are taking a stand on staying closed for Thanksgiving [Houston Chronicle]

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