December 24, 2025
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When Should Stores Close on Christmas Eve?
Most retailers and grocers are closed on Christmas so staff can spend time with the family, but remain open on Christmas Eve with adjusted hours. That still leaves the debate about how early to close on Christmas Eve.
Closing early appears to benefit store associates that gain an early jump on holiday celebrations or related travel plans. Some retailers may pay time and a half or double pay for working Christmas Eve, although it’s not required.
Closing later helps extreme last-minute Christmas shoppers as well as home cooks scrambling for Christmas cookie ingredients or forgotten essentials for the Christmas meal.
According to closing times on Christmas Eve gathered by media outlets including USA Today, Axios, Today, Yahoo, CBS News, and Fast Company, the most popular time to close on Christmas Eve is 6 p.m. local time. Many store hours vary by location.
Chains closing at 6 p.m. include Walmart, Lowe’s, Belk, Dillard’s, Apple, REI, Bass Pro, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta, Barnes & Noble, Michaels, Tractor Supply, Staples, Office Depot and PetSmart. Most Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Sephora, and Old Navy locations close at 6 p.m. although times vary.
Several close slightly later, at 7 p.m., including Best Buy, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Meijer, Academy Sports + Outdoors, and Petco. Target stands out among major chains for closing at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Among the early closers, Home Depot and IKEA lock up at 5 p.m. Costco closes at 5 p.m. while competitors, Sam’s Club and B.J.’s Wholesale Club, close at 6 p.m.
Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works appear to the earliest close among gift-giving chains, closing at 4 p.m. Most enclosed malls close at 6 p.m. and stores inside the mall close generally close when the mall closes.
Grocers Tend to Close Slightly Later on Christmas Eve
Among grocers, the most popular time to close on Christmas Eve appears to be 7 p.m., with those picking that time slot including Food Lion, Giant Food, Harris Teeter, Meijer, Publix, King Soopers, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Whole Foods.
Aldi and Cub Foods take the early-close prize among grocers with a Christmas Eve closing time of 4 p.m., with Trader Joe’s, Weis Markets, Giant Eagle, and Hy-Vee closing at 5 p.m. Grocers closing at 6 p.m. include Lidl, Hannaford, Jewel-Osco, Stop & Shop, and Shaw’s.
Grocers closing later include H-E-B and Fresh Market, both closing at 8 p.m; Winn-Dixie, closing at 9 p.m., and Ralphs, 10 p.m. Most Kroger banners close between 6 to 8 p.m.
BrainTrust
Bob Phibbs
President/CEO, The Retail Doctor
Bob Amster
Principal, Retail Technology Group
Doug Garnett
President, Protonik
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Should retailers be commended more for closing early for store associates or staying open for last-minute shoppers?
What impact does offering time and a half or double pay have on the decision?
Should grocers be open any later than traditional gift sellers?
Poll
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We are fortunate that there really is no universal answer for this question. Stores, after all, must serve their employees and serve their customers even when it appears that what is “best” for each is in conflict. It is wrong to suggest that either is dominant — but that each store must find a useful balance. Critically, we also cannot consider the issue of store hours in isolation as whether a store treats its employees well involves many, many issues. From my experience, I expect that a store which generally treats employees well — especially rejecting silly punishing metrics — will more naturally stay open later and have employees be satisfied. By contrast, should a store choose to close early, it should publicize that for customers in ways which help that closing make sense.
Yes, of course, grocers should be open later. Along with gas stations, and uhm..let’s see: airports, hospitals…
But I really didn’t come here to be silly, I came to wish eveyone Happy Holidays!
(and may you get want you want,,,as long as it has nothing to do with AI)
I consulted this year for a furniture company. They closed at 5PM today. I left right before 5PM-was dead the last few hours of the day. However, the off price stores in the same center were packed. I stopped by a C-Store on the way home and that was packed, customers in line waiting to buy a ticket to win the Powerball. To make it worse, the air conditioning was out and it was very humid outside. It is a double-edged sword.
For most retailers, 3 pm is sufficient but we stay til 6 just in case
That has become the quandary between serving the customer and realizing that employees also have a life. If stores publicize their holiday hours one to two weeks in advance to alert their customers, they should close no later than 5 pm. I strongly believe that retailers, in their endeavor to one-up their competitors, have conditioned the consuming public to believe that “last minute” shopping is just that, instead of ‘last-day’ shopping. The custom is reversible. If the customer knows that stores will be closed by X hrs. everywhere, they will manage. If there is no standard, they will push the envelope.
There is no one answer to this. Each retailer has to determine what works best for them and their customers. However, what I will say is that it’s a pretty poor show if retailers can’t shut up shop a little earlier than usual to give staff some time off. As long as this is clearly communicated to customers, I do not see an issue.
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We are fortunate that there really is no universal answer for this question. Stores, after all, must serve their employees and serve their customers even when it appears that what is “best” for each is in conflict. It is wrong to suggest that either is dominant — but that each store must find a useful balance. Critically, we also cannot consider the issue of store hours in isolation as whether a store treats its employees well involves many, many issues. From my experience, I expect that a store which generally treats employees well — especially rejecting silly punishing metrics — will more naturally stay open later and have employees be satisfied. By contrast, should a store choose to close early, it should publicize that for customers in ways which help that closing make sense.
Yes, of course, grocers should be open later. Along with gas stations, and uhm..let’s see: airports, hospitals…
But I really didn’t come here to be silly, I came to wish eveyone Happy Holidays!
(and may you get want you want,,,as long as it has nothing to do with AI)
I consulted this year for a furniture company. They closed at 5PM today. I left right before 5PM-was dead the last few hours of the day. However, the off price stores in the same center were packed. I stopped by a C-Store on the way home and that was packed, customers in line waiting to buy a ticket to win the Powerball. To make it worse, the air conditioning was out and it was very humid outside. It is a double-edged sword.
For most retailers, 3 pm is sufficient but we stay til 6 just in case
That has become the quandary between serving the customer and realizing that employees also have a life. If stores publicize their holiday hours one to two weeks in advance to alert their customers, they should close no later than 5 pm. I strongly believe that retailers, in their endeavor to one-up their competitors, have conditioned the consuming public to believe that “last minute” shopping is just that, instead of ‘last-day’ shopping. The custom is reversible. If the customer knows that stores will be closed by X hrs. everywhere, they will manage. If there is no standard, they will push the envelope.
There is no one answer to this. Each retailer has to determine what works best for them and their customers. However, what I will say is that it’s a pretty poor show if retailers can’t shut up shop a little earlier than usual to give staff some time off. As long as this is clearly communicated to customers, I do not see an issue.