Electronics retailer Hhgregg has joined the club of retailers saying “no thanks” to Thanksgiving shopping.
Hhgregg’s Thanksgiving hours had been growing steadily longer since 2011, when stores opened at midnight on Black Friday. Each of the last two years, stores opened at 4 p.m., said Bob Riesbeck, Hhgregg’s president and CEO since February.
“It’s just crept in and gotten to be more of a distraction for our associates and more of a source of displeasure from a family standpoint,” he said.
The Indianapolis-based retailer, which has 16 Chicago-area stores, isn’t alone in shuttering on the holiday. Although 85 percent of retailers plan to be open on Black Friday, just 49 percent plan to be open on Thanksgiving, up 1 percent over last year, according to consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2016 holiday survey. About 9 percent of retailers told PwC they weren’t yet certain of their Thanksgiving plans.
The Mall of America recently announced it’s closing on Thanksgiving, though individual retailers will have the choice to stay open.
Cabela’s, Staples, Sam’s Club, Costco, Crate and Barrel, Ikea, Home Depot and Patagonia also have said they’ll be closing for the holiday.
Some retailers have yet to announce holiday hours. Lowe’s, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus joined in remaining closed last year, while outdoor retailer REI took it a step farther by closing on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, encouraging employees and customers to spend the day outside.
Just over 40 percent of retailers planning to close on Thanksgiving cited historical precedent. About 25 percent said it wouldn’t be aligned with their brand’s purpose and 22 percent said employee morale was the main motive for closing, according to PwC.
Those staying closed on Thanksgiving might not be missing out on that much, according to PwC’s survey. About 45 percent of consumers surveyed don’t plan to shop on Thanksgiving at all and 18 percent said they only intended to shop online. Of the 22 percent who expected to hit the stores — down from 26 percent last year — just over a third said they planned to do so after Thanksgiving dinner, according to PwC.
Although Thanksgiving was a big sales day at Hhgregg, it was usually driven by a single item with a “doorbuster” promotion, which often wasn’t a great experience for customers or employees, Riesbeck said.
“The more we started to look at promotions and the growth of the online business, it’s obviously a very important holiday, but we can manage with promotions earlier that week, on Black Friday and through the weekend and not have significant financial impact,” he said.
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