MD Retailers Closed On Thanksgiving: Target, Old Navy, Walmart, Others

MARYLAND — If Thanksgiving turkey sends you into a coma, use that nap to rest up for an early start shopping at Maryland stores on Black Friday. Many malls and big box stores have decided to stay closed on the holiday this year, and focus on early openings Nov. 25.

Among major retailers that will remain closed on Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, are big box stores like Walmart, Target and Best Buy, and a slew of others that anchor malls and shopping centers, including Macy’s, JC Penney and Kohl’s.

Check with the individual stores to see how early their doors will open on Friday. Some will be ready for shoppers at 5 a.m. — Kohl's, JCPenney, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, and more.

Macy's, Lowe's, Walmart and other retailers will welcome customers at 6 a.m. Friday. Belk will throw open its doors at 7 a.m.

Other chains plan to open at 8 a.m. that day include DSW and BJ's Wholesale.

Below are the major national chains with stores in Maryland that will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, according to BlackFriday.com and RetailMeNot.com. It’s a good idea to check local stores for hours this holiday season, because they may vary by location.

• Ann Taylor
• Banana Republic
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Belk
• Best Buy
• BJ’s Wholesale
• Burlington
• Costco
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• DSW
• Gap
• H&M
• Hobby Lobby
• HomeGoods
• Kohl’s
• Lowe’s Home Improvement
• Macy’s
• Marshalls
• Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack
• Old Navy
• Petco
• Sam’s Club
• Sears/Sears Outlet
• Sephora
• Target
• Ulta Beauty
• Victoria's Secret
• Walmart

See the full list of stores closed on Thanksgiving Day on BlackFriday.com.

The holiday shopping season that traditionally started on Black Friday started to creep into Thanksgiving Day about two decades ago as bargain hunters flocked to malls and big box stores in the wee hours of Black Friday morning. At the height of the early morning shopping frenzy about five years ago, 25 or so chain stores opened on Thanksgiving Day, The Associated Press reported.

Stores open on Thanksgiving were criticized both by workers who had to pull themselves away from family, and by consumers at large.

When the pandemic came along in 2020, stores had already started to rethink the strategy after finding the early openings had cannibalized Black Friday sales. Many stores also advertised Black Friday deals for an extended period, further diluting the impact of the Thanksgiving hours.

Giving employees, considered essential workers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day off with their families generated a “positive response” among both workers and consumers, Kohl’s said in a news release last year.

Walmart, which is closing all of its U.S. locations for the third consecutive Thanksgiving, said doing so is “one way we’re saying ‘thank you’ to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year.”

Three states — Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — have taken the decision of whether to shop on Thanksgiving Day out of consumers’ hands. Those states prohibit Thanksgiving hours at big-box stores.