For the past several years, retailers have pushed up the start time for Black Friday shopping earlier and earlier. Now, it has gotten to the point where sales do not begin on Black Friday – they begin on Thanksgiving day.
But one company is breaking the cycle. CBL Associates & Properties, owner of the Huntsville Parkway Place Mall, Gadsden Mall, and Dothan’s Wiregrass Commons Mall, will be closed on Thanksgiving Day this year.
Stephen Lebovitz, President and CEO of CBL, said that the decision was motivated by both sound business logic and family values.
“We want to bring back the excitement of Black Friday shopping as the true start of the holiday shopping season and allow our employees, retailers, and shoppers to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their families,” Lebovitz told Al.com. “After evaluating feedback from our mall employees and retail partners as well as input from our shoppers, we determined that this was the best decision for our properties.”
Mall common areas in the three Alabama properties will be closed on Thanksgiving until 6 a.m. on Black Friday. The malls’ attached movie theaters, restaurants, and anchor stores will still have the option to open their doors on Thanksgiving day.
CBL’s announcement comes on the heels of a similar one from Minnesota’s Mall of America: the country’s largest shopping mall.
“We think Thanksgiving is a day for families and for people we care about,” Jill Renslow, the mall’s senior vice president of marketing, told The Associated Press. “We want to give this day back.”
