The Mall of America will close on Thanksgiving. With 15,000 workers, that’s huge.

Robbie Couch
10.06.16

As the largest shopping center in the U.S., the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, certainly lives up to its name.

Photo by Bill Pugliano/Liaison/Getty Images.

Boasting more than 520 stores — not to mention actual roller coasters! — the mall supports roughly 15,000 jobs.

Photo by Mark Erickson/Getty Images.

This year, many of those 15,000 workers will have an extra bounce in their step when the holiday season arrives.

Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images.

The Mall of America announced on Oct. 6, 2016, that it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

While individual stores in the mall have the option to remain open, officials expect the vast majority to close up shop. That means thousands of Mall of America workers will have the day to sit back, relax, and enjoy some much-deserved time with loved ones (and a few helpings of sweet potato pie).

"We think Thanksgiving is a day for families and for people we care about," Jill Renslow, senior vice president of marketing at the mall, told The Associated Press. "We want to give this day back."

Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images.

Renslow explained to the Star Tribune that mall executives had been discussing Thanksgiving hours for months but ultimately decided to give employees a rest from the holiday hustle and bustle. The Mall of America will reopen early Friday morning.

Most major retailers haven't announced their plans for Thanksgiving yet. But signs suggest the Mall of America won't be alone in giving workers that time off with their families.

In recent years, the pressure's been on giant retailers like Macy's and Target to compete for eager holiday shoppers. As a result, Black Friday sales have sneakily crept further and further into Thanksgiving Day.

That has meant more and more workers have been forced to work while their families are nestled around the dinner table.

"Once you miss Thanksgiving with the family, I can never be put back in those pictures if I'm not there and I'm at work," one employee said in a video by Change.org.

Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images.

Fortunately, though, the tide seems to be turning back. With mounting outrage from labor groups and popular petitions demanding change — not to mention disgruntled husbands going viral over asking their wives be off the clock for the holiday — the pushback to save Thanksgiving has truly taken off.

Last year, big-name stores like DSW, T.J. Maxx, and Staples all agreed: Staying open on Thanksgiving is not the way to go.

This year, a handful of retailers have already confirmed they're keeping their doors locked on Nov. 24.

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images.

The odd thing is, staying open on Thanksgiving doesn't just hurt families — it's not really all that great for business either.

Instead of doubling the hype around holiday shopping, retailers have discovered that opening their doors on Thanksgiving actually does more to take away the excitement surrounding Black Friday than it does to double the revenue. What's more, with the rise of online shopping, displeased employees forced to work, and the many customers who don't want to support stores that are open on a family holiday, the cons have begun to outweigh the pros.

Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images.

Sure, staying open on Thanksgiving may mean employees who work that day get more hours and make more money. After all, most workers forced into working retail jobs over the holidays are low-wage; many of them are just trying to make ends meet.

That's why if retailers truly care about their workers' well-being, they should do their part to make sure to pay them an actual living wage so that no one is stressed out over a slightly smaller paycheck.

To the folks at the Mall of America, an extra day off is nothing to fret over when it comes to their bottom line.

The mall still expects a mind-boggling 400,000 shoppers (give or take) to pass through its doors that last weekend in November.

"We’re confident we’ll still get those strong numbers throughout the Black Friday weekend,” Renslow told the Star Tribune.

If it benefits workers, doesn't hurt business, and helps keep one of America's most beloved holidays intact, what do stores have to lose?

holiday thanksgiving family black friday shopping mall of america jill renslow
More

A 3-year-old gave her mom a 25-word master class on what forgiveness really means.

Mom and blogger Mary Katherine Backstrom regularly shares snippets of life with her two children on her Facebook page. One particularly touching interaction with her daughter is melting hearts and blowing minds due to the 3-year-old's wise words about forgiveness.

Even adults struggle with the concept of forgiveness. Entire books have been written about how and why to forgive those who have wronged us, but many still have a hard time getting it. Who would guess that a preschooler could encapsulate what forgiveness means in a handful of innocent words?

Keep Reading Show less
parenting motherhood children
Family

Kanye West is building low-income houses that will look like they’re straight out of 'Star Wars.'

California has a housing crisis. Rent is so astronomical, one San Francisco company is offering bunk bedsfor $1,200 a month; Google even pledged$1 billion to help tackle the issue in the Bay Area. But the person who might fix it for good? Kanye West.

The music mogul first announced his plan to build low-income housing on Twitter late last year.

"We're starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We're looking for architects and industrial designers who want to make the world better," West tweeted.

Keep Reading Show less
kanye west star wars low income housing rent california
Cities

Megan Rapinoe says the best way to support equal pay is by putting your money where your mouth is.

The U.S. women's soccer team won the Women's World Cup, but the victory is marred by the fact that the team is currently fighting for equal pay. In soccer, the game is won by scoring points, but the fight for equal pay isn't as clearly winnable and the playing field isn't as even.

We live in a world where winning the World Cup is easier than winning equal pay, but co-captain Megan Rapinoe says there's one easy way fans can support the team: Go see games.

Some people argue the men's team deserves to get paid more because they are more successful and earn more money for the United States Soccer Federation. Pay depends on merchandise and ticket sales, and in general, men's sporting events tend to draw a bigger crowd than women's sporting events. It's not about sex, many argue; it's about the fact that people just prefer to see men play.

Keep Reading Show less
Culture

Would you stay in a relationship with someone after learning they had a toxic political belief?

You think you know someone pretty well when you spend years with them, but, as we've seen time and again, that's not always the case. And though many relationships don't get to a point where the producers of "Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?" start calling every day just to chat, the reality is that sometimes partners will reveal shocking things even after you thought you'd been all shocked out.

That's the case for one woman whose Reddit thread has recently gone viral. The 25-year-old, who's been with her boyfriend for five years, took to a forum for relationship advice to ask if it was normal that her seemingly cool and loving boyfriend recently revealed women shouldn't have a fundamental right. (And no, it's not abortion — although there are a lot of "otherwise best ever boyfriends" out there who want to deny women the rights to bodily autonomy, too.)

Keep Reading Show less
Recommended