Target Stores Will Permanently Stop Serving Shoppers on Thanksgiving Day
The Target logo is displayed on shopping carts at a Target store on February 28, 2017 in Southgate, California. Target reported a 4.3 percent decline in fourth quarter earnings with revenue of $20.69 billion compared to $21.63 billion one year ago. Target stock fell over 12 percent on the news. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Target stores will permanently close their doors to customers on Thanksgiving Day, making the store closures a permanent change to the start of the holiday season.

Retailers last year were forced to close during their stores to limit crowds inside their establishments, making holiday shopping an extended event, according to an NPR report.

U.S. holiday sales in last November and December increased by 8.2 percent as compared to the 2019 holiday sales, according to the nation's largest retail group, The National Retail Federation.

The retail group projected that 2021 holiday sales could even be bigger, which could grow between 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent.

Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a letter to employees that the closure of stores during Thanksgiving Day would be the new standard of the store.

The new standard at Target could push other retailers to follow in its decision.

Target Stores Closed on Thanksgiving Day

While Target stores will remain closed, distribution and customer centers will have some staff on the holiday. Target announced that its stores would reopen at 7 a.m. on Black Friday, according to The New York Times report.

Many of the retailers' move to kick off Black Friday sales early was done to compete with retail giant Amazon.com and other rising online retail shops.

Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a retail research firm, said that Target is the first major retailer to make the move permanent, which was initially done during the onset of a pandemic, according to an ABC News Go report. Perkins said that retailers are mulling over whether to open their stores as shoppers lean towards online shopping and shy away from physical stores, adding that one is compelled to ask if it is necessary to open on Thanksgiving with all the online shopping opportunities.

Other Retail Stores on Thanksgiving Day

Meanwhile, Walmart said it would also close its stores on Thanksgiving Day for a second year. However, it has not yet been determined if they will be closing their store on future Thanksgiving.

Some stores ended the practice of opening during the holiday, such as Mall of America in Minnesota.

Some stores never opened their doors to shoppers during the holiday, such as the case in Costco and Nordstrom. They noted that they wanted to respect the holiday.

For the second year in a row, American chain Macy's will not be welcoming shoppers on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, its curbside pickup service will be available at some store locations.

The American chain noted that it has not announced future plans but that they are called to what their customers and colleagues deem important and would base their decisions on that.

Kohl's will also be closed on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was never a big sales day in history as stores usually opened their doors around 5 p.m.

However, Thanksgiving has been a big online sales day. The Adobe Digital Economy Index noted Thanksgiving followed Cyber Monday and Black Friday in online sales.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Target To Keep Stores Closed On Thanksgiving For Good - from CBS Los Angeles