Walmart announced on Friday that its stores will be closed on Thanksgiving joining its rival Target in shutting down its brick-and-mortar locations on this national holiday. 

With this change, two of the biggest stores are showing how the pandemic has permanently influenced this industry. It will be the second straight year that Target and Walmart stores will be closed on Thanksgiving. Target had already announced its decisions in January. 

Walmart announced this news about this year’s Thanksgiving to their employees at their associate celebration meeting. That gathering typically coincides with Walmart's annual shareholder’s meeting in  Bentonville, Arkansas, which was held virtually for the second year in a row.

Walmart's Chief Operating Officer, Dacona Smith, said in a news release that closing stores on the holiday “is one way we’re saying ‘thank you’ to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year.”

by Angela Yi