Virginia Stores Closing For Thanksgiving

VIRGINIA — It’s barely October and many retailers are already prepping for Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Every year the commercial holiday seems to encroach further into Thanksgiving, with major retailers opening earlier and earlier in hopes of capitalizing on eager consumers itching to score major deals. But dozens of retailers, including many in Virginia, are bucking that trend.

Sam’s Club, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco, H&M and Nordstrom are among the stores that have already announced they will remain closed on Turkey Day this year, according to BestBlackFriday.com, which reached out to media representatives for each company over the past month.

"We have never had this many confirmations in early October, and we are expecting the list to grow to over 100 national and well-known regional stores by Thanksgiving Day,” the company said in an emailed statement to Patch.

Below is the latest list of retailers that will be closed on Nov. 22, many of which have at least one location in Virginia.

• A.C. Moore
• Ace Hardware
• Allen Edmonds
• American Girl
• At Home
• AT&T (company-owned stores)
• Barnes & Noble
• Big 5 Sporting Goods
• BJ’s Wholesale Club
• Bob's Discount Furniture
• Burlington
• Christopher & Banks
• Cost Plus World Market
• Costco
• Crate and Barrel
• Dillard’s
• Dress Barn (majority of stores)
• Guitar Center
• H&M
• Half Price Books
• Harbor Freight Tools
• Hobby Lobby
• Home Depot
• HomeGoods
• Homesense
• IKEA
• JOANN Stores
• Lowe’s
• Marshalls
• Mattress Firm
• Music & Arts
• Nordstrom
• Nordstrom Rack
• Patagonia
• Pep Boys
• Petco
• PetSmart
• Pier 1 Imports
• Publix
• REI
• Sam’s Club
• Sportsman’s Warehouse
• Sprint (retail stores closed unless mall dictates otherwise; mall kiosks may be open)
• Staples
• Stein Mart
• Sur La Table
• The Container Store
• TJ Maxx
• Tractor Supply Co.
• Trollbeads
• West Marine

Most retailers keeping the doors closed said it was to allow workers — and customers — time to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, a mentality seemingly in line with other Americans.

A September survey of more than 1,000 people by BestBlackFriday.com found that just 25 percent of Americans favored Thanksgiving openings, while 48 percent actually dislike Thanksgiving openings. About 27 percent indicated they were indifferent.

A few states — Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine — go so far as to ban stores from opening on the holiday.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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