Last year’s Black Friday was marked by a heady one-upmanship between retailers to open earlier and earlier and intruding on Thanksgiving Day. Stores including Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Kohl’s opened as early as 5 p.m. On Thanksgiving, giving employees little digestion time before having to get back to work.
This year, in an early announcement, Staples is warning customers to stay away on Thanksgiving. “We want our customers and associates to enjoy Thanksgiving their own way,” Demos Parneros, Staples’ president of North American stores and online said in a press release Thursday. “On Thanksgiving Day, customers can shop from home on Staples.com and then continue their shopping in stores starting at 6 a.m. On Black Friday.”
The retailer was open during Thanksgiving for the last two years. Despite last year’s trend of early opening, the holiday weekend sales fell from the previous year by as much as 11%.