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Martin Moylan

Mall of America to close on Thanksgiving Day, open Black Friday

Shoppers headed in to the Mall of America Sunday.
Shoppers enter the Mall of America Feb. 22, 2015 in Bloomington, Minn.
Jerry Holt | Star Tribune via AP 2015

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Updated 1:15 p.m. | Posted 10:47 a.m.

Mall of America officials say the sprawling shopping center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day to "give the holiday back" to its 15,000 employees, although stores will have the option of opening.

The country's largest shopping mall will close its amusement park and movie theaters. Mall executives hope their retail tenants will follow that lead.

"We're talking with a lot of the tenants, and we've heard very positive sentiment back from them [about] our efforts in making this decision and actually a lot of them hope that they can follow suit as well," said Jill Renslow, the mall's senior vice president for marketing.

Last year only about 25 percent of some 520 stores opened Thanksgiving evening. Many smaller shops have found it hard to find staff to work on Thanksgiving, Renslow said.

"Especially, our specialty stores appreciate this move and even the corporate stores hope that their companies will make a change as well," she added.

The mall will provide security and other staff to accommodate stores that choose to do business on the holiday.

The mall will open at 5 a.m. on Black Friday, which traditionally begins the holiday shopping season.

Nordstrom, one of the mall's major tenants, has been closed on Thanksgiving. Best Buy and Sears said they are not ready to announce their holiday hours.