A majority of Walgreens stores will be closed on Thanksgiving to give workers time to spend with their loved ones, the company said on Thursday.

Walgreens operates nearly 9,000 retail sites across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “On Thanksgiving Day, most Walgreens locations will be closed,” the firm said in a Nov. 16 press release. “Nearly all 700 Walgreens 24-hour locations will remain open on Thanksgiving to help meet the healthcare needs of our customers. This is the first time Walgreens has closed stores on Thanksgiving Day to give time back to its workforce.”

In addition to the 24-hour locations, a “small number” of Walgreens distribution centers, supply chains, and centralized teams will also continue their operations on the day. Thanksgiving is on Nov. 23. Walgreens said that the closed stores would operate at regular hours on both Nov. 22 and Nov. 24, Black Friday.

The company is “grateful” to employees who will be working at the 24-hour locations on the holiday, insisting they are “essential in delivering care to their communities and serve as a critical destination for healthcare services, including prescription access, pharmacist advice, and medication management.”

“We have consistently heard from our team members—who are the face of Walgreens—that time off is a meaningful way for us to demonstrate we value them,” said Tracey D. Brown, EVP, President Walgreens Retail & Chief Customer Officer.

“We heard them, are committed to listening to their feedback and are dedicated to doing what is right for them. We hope they can enjoy the holiday and spend time with their loved ones.”

Walgreens’ decision to give time off for employees on Thanksgiving came after workers had held multiple strikes against the company over dissatisfaction with the work environment.

A strike between Oct. 9 and 11 saw some Walgreens stores in Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington shut down.

A Reddit post from a Walgreens employee calling for walkouts claimed the management “continued to cut hours while adding more tasks,” which the worker said was unsafe for both staff and patients.

“I have spent hours explaining to patients why we scheduled them an appointment for a vaccine we didn't have. I've also given over 100 vaccines in a day all by myself while 600-plus leaflets lay on the counter. Two of my technicians walked out mid-shift,” the person wrote.

“My pharmacy has historically been top of the chain, but these corporate demands are unrealistic and unfair to us and to our patients.”

A three-day strike by some Walgreens employees was held late last month. Shane Jerominski, a former Walgreens pharmacist and one of the organizers of the walkout, said that certain stores were “grossly understaffed.”

Thanksgiving Store Closures

Walgreens’ competitor CVS intends to close all their non-24-hour pharmacy outlets early on Thanksgiving, the company said in a statement to Axios. Meanwhile, Rite Aid also intends to shut down its pharmacies on Thanksgiving.

Outside of the pharma industry, major retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Macy’s will remain closed during the holiday, according to CBS News. Dollar General informed the outlet that its stores will remain open on the day in most states.

In an interview with USA Today, Mathew Isaac, chair of the marketing department at the Seattle University Albers School of Business and Economics, said that “in the past, when the vast majority of retailer sales were made in person at physical stores, retailers kept trying to one-up each other by starting their Black Friday sales earlier and earlier as a potential competitive advantage.”

“Eventually, this tactic spilled over into Thanksgiving as some retailers began offering Black Friday sales on Thursday itself.”

However, things have changed now, he said. Black Friday is no longer the official start of the holiday shopping season. Instead, retailers have been kicking off holiday sales even as early as October, he noted.

“It is no longer crucial for them to focus so much on any one particular day since the start of the holiday shopping season is much more fluid than it used to be previously. Even the line between Black Friday and Cyber Monday has blurred.”

Thanksgiving Sales

A survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that 182 million Americans will shop in-store and online during the five-day period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year. This is 15.7 million more people than last year and is the highest level since 2017.

Black Friday was found to be the most popular day to shop, with 72 percent planning to do shopping that day, up from 69 percent last year. Cyber Monday took the second spot.

The top reason consumers choose to shop during this period is that the deals are said to be “too good to pass up,” with 61 percent of respondents agreeing to it. Twenty-eight percent of people cited “tradition” as a reason.

“The Thanksgiving holiday weekend marks some of the busiest shopping days of the year, as consumers enjoy the tradition of shopping for the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

“Retailers have been preparing for months for this occasion. They are stocked and ready to help customers find the gifts and other items they want at great prices during the entire holiday season.”