What Opens and Closes on Thanksgiving Day
For many, Thanksgiving is a day full of food and television. If you don’t have plans for the day, or even if you have, and those plans only include lunch or dinner, then you may be wondering what might be open during the day.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday, which means little. However, since Thanksgiving happens the day before the biggest shopping day of the year, there will be a lot more discoveries at nightfall. Here’s a rundown of what’s open and closed during the day:
banks
All banks will be closed for Thanksgiving, including the Federal Reserve. The stock market is also closed throughout the day and will close early tomorrow (Black Friday) at 13:00.
National parks
All national parks are closed today, so if you were hoping for an afternoon hike, you need to postpone it until tomorrow.
Libraries
Public libraries are also closed on Thanksgiving but are expected to open on Black Friday.
Grocery stores
Given that Thanksgiving is a food-related holiday, most grocery stores are open. However, many of these stores operate on reduced schedule during the day. If you need to drive to your local store at the last minute, it is recommended that you call them before leaving and make sure they are open.
Retail store
Large supermarkets such as BJ’s, Sam’s and Costco will be closed for the day.
Given the growing popularity of Black Friday, many retail stores will be open on Thanksgiving, but only later in the evening. Check out the Black Friday announcement for the store in question to determine if it will be open for Thanksgiving with sales or will wait until Friday to start its deals.
Post office
Since the post office is a federal agency, you will not receive mail on Thursday, the same goes for FedEx. Both services are still using their “Critical” service.