Walmart Keeps Thanksgiving Closed, Reopens Stores Early For Black Friday

Axios reported on November 26, 2025 that Walmart was among the national retailers that kept stores closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 27, 2025, allowing many store employees a guaranteed day off. Most Walmart stores were scheduled to reopen for Black Friday, commonly at 6 a.m. local time, the compilation said. The piece placed Walmart's schedule in the context of a wider retail shift this year in which large chains opted to close Thanksgiving while concentrating promotions earlier online and spreading deals across Cyber Week.

The move continued a policy Walmart adopted in 2020, and it aligned the company with peers such as Target and Best Buy, along with many grocery banners, that chose a similar holiday pause. Axios noted that other national grocers, drugstores and dollar chains generally remained open with varying hours, a pattern that can reshape customer flows and staffing demands in the days around the holiday.

For Walmart associates, a Thanksgiving closure provided a predictable holiday off for many store teams, which can affect morale, scheduling expectations and short term staffing plans. The policy reduced the need to staff stores on Thanksgiving evening and night, while concentrating in person shopping into the Black Friday period. At the same time, the presence of open competitors on Thanksgiving can shift last minute shopper traffic to the day before the holiday and into Thanksgiving night, creating uneven labor needs across the retail sector.

The broader retail trend toward earlier and sustained online promotions also affects how stores deploy labor across the week. Spreading deals across Cyber Week can smooth customer demand and influence scheduling, though the Axios guide underscored that hours and policies still varied by chain and by store type. The reporting and holiday hours compilation was by Kelly Tyko, offering a practical snapshot for workers weighing schedules and for shoppers planning their holiday shopping.