By: Khamille Labbe, Contributing Writer
Stores will have to close this Black Friday as people need to follow COVID-19 safety protocols. National retailers have announced alterations for the upcoming season that will change shopping habits this year.
This summer, stores such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Macy’s have announced that they will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Regardless, customers have been told to expect a longer holiday shopping season with sales starting earlier than usual. Online deals will start as soon as November with lower prices on items of clothing, home essentials, and beauty products. Closer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, stores will provide deals and sales for larger items, such as electronics and jewelry, as well as offer deals in other departments.
In this photo, taken on May 30, people must wear protective masks and lineup to enter a Target, in Boston, amid the coronavirus pandemic. This will be expected during Black Friday shopping at stores nationwide.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Here are some major stores’ plans for Black Friday 2020:
- Target
- Thanksgiving hours: Closed
- Black Friday hours: TBD
In a press release on Aug. 19, 2020, Target announced, “this isn’t the year for crowds.”
- Best Buy
- Thanksgiving hours: Closed
- Black Friday hours: TBD
- JCPenney
- Thanksgiving hours: Closed
- Black Friday hours: TBD
On Aug. 3, 2020, JCPenney’s CEO, Jill Soltau, stated, “Customers can also utilize our convenient services such as Buy Online, pick up in-store available in all stores, and Style on the Go Curbside Pickup, in select locations.”
- Foot Locker
- Thanksgiving hours: Closed
- Black Friday hours: TBD
Foot Locker’s VP of Global Communications, Tracy Royal, confirmed on Footwear News that Foot Locker would be joining the ever-growing list of retailers closing on Thanksgiving Day this year. Customers can expect regular shopping hours on Nov. 25.
The shift to primarily online shopping will not only protect shoppers but the store staff too. Jeff Galak, associate professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, explained employee safety that comes with online shopping. According to Galak, online shopping allows for products to be kept in a central warehouse for employees to ship as needed.
Like other retailers, Best Buy joins in curbside pickups for customer safety.
Source: Best Buy
Sofia Wharton, a criminal justice major at Saint Leo University and an employee at Aeropostale said, “I think definitely it will help others not get COVID-19 and prevent a huge expansion in cases.”
She continued to explain that shopping has changed for the betterment of both employees and shoppers regarding safety.
“I feel safer not spending many hours around others,” Wharton said.
Wharton also mentioned the idea of more family time for employees becoming available during this holiday season, as stores close. She welcomes the idea of closing stores to spend time with her family without having to rush after dinner to tend to the store.
COVID-19 guidelines are a must for stores to enforce and customers to follow for any in-person shopping for the health of the community.
Source: Macy’s
“I hope closing on Black Friday will continue to come because I think Thanksgiving is about family, and it should be family-oriented,” Wharton said.
According to the Washington Post, stores will generate revenue throughout the months of online shopping, leaving in-store performance at all-time lows. Less seasonal jobs will be available as online purchases take money out of the local economy. The fewer jobs there are available, the more people will struggle during this pandemic, and the less money there will be flowing into the local market.
This holiday season, it is important to remember to stay safe as shoppers decide where and how they want to shop.
