Memorial Day sales surge as 45 million travelers hit the road
Forty-five million Americans are expected to travel for Memorial Day as early discounts hit patio furniture, grills, tech and other summer essentials.
Forty-five million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home for Memorial Day, and the holiday surge is arriving alongside some of the year’s most aggressive retail discounts. For shoppers, the biggest question is not whether sales are happening, but which markdowns are worth acting on now and which are better left for later.
Memorial Day falls on Monday, May 25, and sits at the start of the long summer shopping calendar. The holiday traces back to the first official national Decoration Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868, and it remains the last Monday in May, a built-in shopping marker for retailers clearing space for warm-weather inventory. Early sales are already showing up one to two weeks before the holiday, with advertised savings as high as 70% to 85% off in some categories.
The strongest value this weekend is in seasonal goods tied directly to summer use. Outdoor furniture, grills, lawn games, garden tools, patio furniture, fire pits, portable speakers and solar lights are all in the sweet spot because retailers are using Memorial Day to move bulky stock before the peak season fully arrives. Major chains including The Home Depot, Lowe’s and Amazon are rolling out discounts in those categories, making this a practical time to buy items needed for backyard gatherings, pool parties and barbecues. Mattresses, appliances and tech also tend to see meaningful promotions, though the best buys are usually the models and bundles with genuine shelf-space pressure rather than the most heavily advertised “percent off” tags.
That matters because shoppers are paying closer attention this year. RetailMeNot’s 2026 Memorial Day survey found 66% of respondents were at least somewhat likely to wait for Memorial Day sales before making a purchase, a sign that consumers are timing buys around bigger promotional windows rather than grabbing the first posted price. The same survey points to sharply lower planned spending, suggesting a more cautious shopper who is hunting harder for real savings and less willing to pay full price.
AAA expects the travel wave to stretch from Thursday, May 21, through Monday, May 25, with 39.1 million people driving and 3.66 million flying. That travel crush reinforces Memorial Day’s role as the unofficial start of summer, but it also shapes the retail calendar: for seasonal essentials, now is the buying window. For bigger-ticket nonseasonal items, the next major promotion cycle may offer another chance.
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