Target Closes NC Stores On Thanksgiving, Adjusts Sale Schedule

NORTH CAROLINA — Admitting that the holiday season will look "very different" this year for retailers, Target announced on Monday that it will join Walmart and other big box stores in closing for Thanksgiving later this year, including all of its North Carolina stores.

The Minneapolis-based retailer announced in a news release that it will adjust its holiday schedule as concerns over the coronavirus pandemic continue. While the store has introduced measures to keep shoppers safe over the past few months, company officials will change up the store's schedule to keep the holiday shopping experience "simple, safe and stress-free."

Target has been open on Thanksgiving since 2011 and joins other national retailers, including Walmart, which announced recently that it will not be open on Thanksgiving, and Dick's Sporting Goods. Macy's is also reportedly considering starting its Black Friday push weeks earlier, possibly around Halloween.

Officials announced that rather than kicking off its holiday shopping schedule on Thanksgiving, when Target has traditionally opened up Black Friday shopping deals, deals will begin as early as October in an effort to cut down on crowded stores that are typically part of the holiday shopping experience.

"This isn't a year for crowds," Target officials wrote.

Target announced in the release that while stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, shoppers can expect to "count on getting extra-big savings without extra-long lines," with opportunities to save on the kind of items that typically are sought after around Black Friday both before and after Thanksgiving.

The store has also announced it will make more than 20,000 items — including groceries — available for pick-up and delivery, a service that Target officials announced grew 278 percent in the first quarter when the pandemic impacted the shopping experience at grocery and big-box stores across the country.

"The investments we've made in our business and our incredible team have enabled us to move with flexibility and speed to meet guests' changing needs during this global pandemic," Target CEO Brian Cornell said in the news release. "This year more than ever, a joyful holiday will be inseparable from a safe one, and we're continuing to adjust our plans to deliver ease, value and the joy of the season in a way that only Target can."

Original story by Jeff Arnold, Patch staff