Office Depot To Keep Stores Closed On Thanksgiving Day

Going against the retail industry’s popular trend of keeping stores open on Thanksgiving, Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODP) has decided to keep its stores closed on the day. The company said they want their associates to enjoy Thanksgiving with family and friends. In fact, the retailer of office products and services will officially kick-start the holiday season from Black Friday.

Nevertheless, customers can shop online on Thanksgiving via the company’s website from 12.01 a.m. on Nov 24 and can avail great deals. The company will open its stores at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) which shares space with Office Depot has also decided to keep its stores closed like the previous year. However, bargain hunters can shop online on Thanksgiving via Staples.com. This office supplies retailer will open its stores at 6 a.m. on Black Friday and continue with its deals through Cyber Monday. Moreover, the retailer will offer amazing holiday saving deals both in-store and online, starting early November.

Of late, employees have been raising their voice against opening on Thanksgiving, as they want to enjoy the day with their families. On the other hand, to take on online rivals, brick-and-mortar retailers do not want to miss out a single opportunity to draw shoppers who start early and seek attractive deals, and so keep their doors open on Thanksgiving.

The holiday season is a period when the retailers are well on their toes, flooding the markets with offers and promotions. They aim to lure customers with early-hour store openings, huge discounts, promotional strategies along with free shipping on online purchases. Since the season accounts for a sizeable chunk of yearly revenues and profits, retailers seize every opportunity to drive footfall.

hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE:HGG) has also decided to keep its 220 stores closed on Thanksgiving and will deploy roughly 500 associates for the upcoming season. Retailers such as Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) will hire roughly 83,000 and 70,000 associates, respectively.

Office Depot currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

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