Best Buy has Thanksgiving plans. You're not invited

The decision marks the second straight year that Best Buy stores will be dark on the holiday. Last year, in the midst of the Covid crisis, the store encouraged customers instead to take advantage of online deals, and opened for in-person shopping starting on Black Friday.

While it's the busiest day of the year for big-box retailers, Black Friday has traditionally marked the beginning of holiday shopping. In recent years, however, stores have extended deals to Thanksgiving Day to get a jump start on sales and minimize crowds. Last year, because of the pandemic, many retailers opted to remain closed on the holiday itself.

And despite relaxed Covid guidelines that have accompanied increased vaccinations nationwide in 2021, a growing list of retailers, including Target and Walmart, have already announced they will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Target announced as far back as January that it would be closed on Thanksgiving Day, citing strong performance and growth in same-day services during November and December 2020. And last week, Walmart, the world's largest retailer, announced it, too, will close on the holiday as a "thank you" to its employees.

Thanksgiving Day hours have long been a source of tension between retailers and critics who argue that employees should have the day off to be with their families. As a result, some states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine, have prohibited big-box retailers from opening that day.

And although retailers saw a significant decline in in-store shopping traffic last year due to the closures, online shopping skyrocketed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

This Thanksgiving, Best Buy is confident it can keep customers satisfied during the holiday season with plenty of alternatives to in-person shopping. Over the 2020 holiday season, the company relied on online deals, curbside pickup, and faster shipping options to serve customers.

"Last year, thanks to the extraordinary work of our employees, we helped millions of customers with their holiday shopping during Black Friday weekend," the company wrote in a statement. "This year, we'll have even more ways for customers to easily and conveniently get their holiday shopping done, over the Black Friday weekend and throughout the entire holiday season."

Best Buy has not yet announced its store hours for Black Friday or the rest of the holiday weekend.