Will malls, retailers give shoppers Thanksgiving off?

The decision by America's largest shopping mall to close on Thanksgiving could put pressure on major retailers to follow suit and return the national holiday to a day of food, family and football.

For now, most major retail chains, including Walmart and Sears, and large mall operators are yet to announce their holiday schedules.

But they are sure to be closely watching the reaction to the decision by officials at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., to close, giving the vast majority of its employees the day off, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The mall was leaving it up to its 520 stores to decide whether try to open on their own.

The mall reopens at 5 a.m. Friday, just in time for the traditional "doorbuster" special designed to motivate shoppers to shake off their post-Thanksgiving lethargy — usually brought on by overeating — to hit the stores and start spending.

In the past few years, the pressure has been on for chains to get the masses started even earlier, on Thanksgiving Day itself, rather than have them sit at home and shop on their computers. Walmart, for instance, has been opening its stores on Thanksgiving since 1988. Its doorbuster specials typically start at 6 p.m., but the chain is yet to announce its schedule this year.

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Retailers have little incentive to alter the schedule. Their stores are competing against online sellers. The National Retail Federation's annual survey last year showed 41 million shoppers said they started their gift buying adventures online on Thanksgiving Day.

Plus, visiting stores on the holiday has become fairly normal. The same survey found half of those who shopped in stores on Thanksgiving arrived by midnight. Walmart alone says in 2013, 22 million customers come through its doors on Thanksgiving Day.

General Growth Properties, which operates some of the nation's toniest malls — from Ala Moana Center in Honolulu to Tysons Galleria outside Washington, D.C., says no changes are anticipated from last year's schedule.

"We'll formally post the holiday hours later this month consistent with last year's timing," says Kevin Berry, a senior vice president.