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For the fourth consecutive year, Black Friday will predominantly be a Friday event as most major retailers have shifted away from Thanksgiving openings. The most popular Black Friday opening times are 5 a.m., 6 a.m., and 7 a.m.
That’s a big change from the pre-pandemic start of Black Friday deals. In 2019, Old Navy and JCPenney opened their doors on Thanksgiving at 3 p.m. for Black Friday specials, while Belk opened on Thanksgiving at 4 p.m., Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, and Kohl’s opened at 5 p.m., and Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gap, and Five Below opened at 6 p.m.
Walmart, where most locations are open 24 hours, started running in-store deals in 2019 from 6 p.m. until supplies ran out.
Beginning in 2020, retailers that were typically open on Thanksgiving, including Walmart, closed their doors to show appreciation to associates for their efforts during the pandemic, and the closings have continued. In 2021, Target announced it would be closing on Thanksgiving permanently.
Before the pandemic, many stores also started holding early Black Friday sales starting in October, and those shifts accelerated in recent years, including exclusive online deals becoming more popular. Still, stores are expected to reserve some special offers to not disappoint shoppers on Black Friday, which is still predicted to be one of the biggest shopping days of the holiday season.
The National Retail Federation reported that Black Friday attracted 72.9 million consumers for in-store shopping in 2022, up from 66.5 million in 2021. Even more — 87.2 million — shopped online on Black Friday in 2022, above the 77 million online shoppers on Cyber Monday.
Here’s a roundup of planned Black Friday openings for some of the larger retail chains:
- 4 a.m.: Dunham's Sports
- 5 a.m.: Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops, Fleet Farm, Fred Meyer, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Old Navy
- 6 a.m.: Big Lots, Blain's Farm & Fleet, Boscov's, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Dick's Sporting Goods, Gap, Guitar Center, H&M, JOANN, Lowe's, Macy's, Meijer, Menards, Sportsman's Warehouse, Target, Tractor Supply, Ulta, Walmart
- 7 a.m.: Belk, BJ's, Conn's HomePlus, GameStop, Marshall's, T.J.Maxx, Michaels, PetSmart
- 8 a.m.: Apple, Barnes & Noble, Five Below, Petco
- 9 a.m.: Costco, Dillard's, Nordstrom, OfficeMax, Staples