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<p>What does the Laurel Mall in Hazle Township have in common with retailers hhgregg, Staples and T.J. Maxx? They are all part of a growing trend of shopping establishments saying &#8220;no&#8221; to working on Thanksgiving Day 2016.</p><p>Unlike several New England states, Pennsylvania does not have a Blue Law, prohibiting work on Sundays or holidays. Since the Mall of America in Minnesota announced it will not be open Thanksgiving Day, other retailers and mall outlets have followed suit.</p><p>According to a National Retail Foundation survey, more than 151 million people shopped at some point over the 2015 Thanksgiving weekend. The survey results indicate 74.2 million shoppers shopped on Black Friday, while 34.6 million shopped on Thanksgiving Day.</p><p><a href="http://bestblackfriday.com/" target="_blank">Bestblackfriday.com, a shoppers comprehensive guide to guide to Black Friday deals,</a> attributes the closures to people wanting to spend time with their family.</p><p>&#8220;Population can push the trends,&#8221; Eric Jones, of Bestblackfriday.com, said. &#8220;If they want to shop (on Thanksgiving), they have to cut away (from family gatherings).&#8221;</p><p>The Shoppes at Montage in Moosic and the Laurel Mall in Hazle Township are closed on Thanksgiving Day.</p><p>Erin Kosek, property manager for the Shoppes, said individual stores are allowed to open on Thanksgiving if they so choose because of the &#8220;layout and design&#8221; of the marketplace.</p><p>&#8220;We actually open at 8 a.m. Black Friday,&#8221; Kosek said, noting some stores could potentially open earlier in the traditional after-holiday way. &#8220;None opened on Thanksgiving last year.&#8221;</p><p>As for the Laurel Mall, Rocco Arruzzo, business operations and marketing manager, said the Mall has &#8220;never been opened on Thanksgiving.&#8221;</p><p>That means 12 Laurel Mall employees, who are not direct store employees, will enjoy the day off, Arruzzo said.</p><p>For hhgregg, all of its 220 stores, including the one outside the Wyoming Valley Mall, will be closed from 10 p.m. Nov. 23 until 7 a.m. Nov. 25 .</p><p>&#8220;We stand behind our core values and beliefs of being a family-first company,&#8221; Bob Riesbeck, president and CEO of hhgregg, wrote in a press release. &#8220;It&#8217;s important to us that our associates are able to be home with their families on Thanksgiving.&#8221;</p><p>Due to positive response to the Thanksgiving closures, the Laurel Mall all is also closed on New Year&#8217;s Day, which was something Rocco, and Lisa Arruzzo, general manager, instituted when they arrived last year.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had very little repercussion,&#8221; Rocco said about the holiday closings.</p><p>Though the mall is closed, some anchor tenants, Rocco said, are still up in the air as to their hours on Thanksgiving.</p><p>That&#8217;s not the case at the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>An anchor tenant at the mall, Macy&#8217;s will be open Thanksgiving Day. Bucking the closing trend, the retailer will be open an hour earlier than its 2015 advertised hours.</p><p>Elina Kazan, vice president of media relations and cause marketing for the nationwide store, said the store opens at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving, in line with its other brick and mortar stores.</p><p>Because some retailers are still defying popular ideology, Jones said the nation is in a &#8220;transition period&#8221; but thinks the U.S. is headed back for a more &#8220;traditional Black Friday within a couple more years.&#8221;</p><p>Efforts to reach Joe Ohrin, marketing director for the the Wyoming Valley Mall, were unsuccessful about the mall&#8217;s plans or hours for the holiday.</p><p>In the Arena Hub Plaza, Best Buy hasn&#8217;t yet announced its hours, according to Kevin Flannigan, Pennsylvania public relations associate. The electronics giant was opened from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thanksgiving 2015 before reopening at 8 a.m Black Friday</p><p>Internet shopping is always available and Riesbeck encourages customers to shop online if they must shop on the holiday itself.</p><p>&#8220;We are encouraging our customers &#8230; knowing great deals will be available online, on Black Friday and through the weekend,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Joan McDonald, right, and her daughter Charlene Modlesky do their Black Friday 2015 shopping at Boscov&#8217;s department store in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL112815blackfriday1-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Joan McDonald, right, and her daughter Charlene Modlesky do their Black Friday 2015 shopping at Boscov&#8217;s department store in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_earlychristmas03-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kyra Maldonado, left, and her mom Lisa Collins, both of Ashley, shop at the Wyoming Valley Mall on Thanksgiving 2014, looking to get a head start on Black Friday shoppers. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_earlychristmas03-4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Kyra Maldonado, left, and her mom Lisa Collins, both of Ashley, shop at the Wyoming Valley Mall on Thanksgiving 2014, looking to get a head start on Black Friday shoppers. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>CLOSED ON</strong></p><p><strong>THANKSGIVING</strong></p><p>National retailers with stores in the Wyoming Valley area who have announced their closure on Thanksgiving thus far (from bestblackfriday.com):</p><p>&#8226; AT&amp;T (customer service closed; select retail locations closed)</p><p>&#8226; Barnes &amp; Noble</p><p>&#8226; Bed Bath &amp; Beyond</p><p>&#8226; Burlington</p><p>&#8226; Christmas Tree Shops</p><p>&#8226; GameStop</p><p>&#8226; Guitar Center</p><p>&#8226; Home Depot</p><p>&#8226; Jo-Ann Fabric &amp; Craft Stores</p><p>&#8226; Lowe&#8217;s</p><p>&#8226; Marshalls</p><p>&#8226; Petco</p><p>&#8226; PetSmart</p><p>&#8226; Pier 1 Imports</p><p>&#8226; Raymour and Flanagan Furniture (8 a.m. Black Friday opening)</p><p>&#8226; Sam&#8217;s Club</p><p>&#8226; Staples</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Some local stores follow reverse trend to be closed on Thanksgiving