Walmart yesterday announced that they would close their retail stores this Thanksgiving so employees could spend more time with family in light of the current trying times. Opening on Thanksgiving was the retailer’s tradition as a kickoff to the Black Friday shopping weekend since the 1980s.
Given the current state of society, CivicScience ran a quick survey to get the pulse of how consumers feel about the change.
The results are a resounding yes to the move. Eighty-two percent of U.S. adults polled strongly agree with the announcement. Hardly anyone disagrees with ending the Thanksgiving Day shopping tradition at Walmart.
What’s more is when crossing this among Walmart favorables (those who like or love to shop at the big box behemoth) we observe that 90% agree (strongly or somewhat agree combined). This is slightly higher than the gen pop who agree at 88%. It’s likely that Walmart will not see most customers disappointed by the move this year.
Sam’s Club will also be impacted by the decision to be shut on Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26 of this year. The favorables of this retailer look just like the gen pop: 88% agree with the change.
What about other big box chains? It’s clear that the overwhelming majority of the population backs the decision and it doesn’t look too different among Target fans. When crossing with Target favorables instead, we see results identical to those among Walmart shoppers.
Good move, Walmart. It will be interesting to observe if other retailers make this same decision, and whether or not the Walton family makes it a new policy beyond 2020.
