The Mall of America, tourist destination and temple of commerce, announced last month that it would not be officially opening on Thanksgiving Day, though it gave individual stores the option to open if they wanted. The only retailers to take the mall up on that offer were Sears, Macy’s, and The Crayola Experience, and Crayola is the only store staying open that lacks its own entrance.
In a departure from its stores in most of the rest of the country, Best Buy, which is based nearby in Minneapolis, will not be opening its Mall of America store at 5 P.M. on Thanksgiving Day.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that except for those three stores, the mall will be totally closed after noon: it will have security and maintenance staff to keep an eye on the place, but will lock all exterior doors except for the one closest to the Crayola store.
Before noon, there will be an indoor charity walk held in the hallways of the mall. Other than that, even the entertainment attractions like the aquarium, movie theaters, and the Nickelodeon Universe theme park will close down. They typically opened along with the mall.
Plenty of malls and big-box stores across the country will be open on the holiday, though, including other malls in the Minneapolis area. General Growth Properties and Simon Property Group, for starters, plan to open all of their malls and outlet malls on Thanksgiving Day, and big boxes like Kohl’s, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy stores other than the one at Mall of America will most likely open unless local laws prohibit it.
Only Macy’s, Sears and Crayola Experience opening at Mall of America on Thanksgiving [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist