Bringing holiday tradition back: Brookfield Square Mall will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving

BROOKFIELD– CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., owner of Brookfield Square, announced Wednesday, October 12th in a press release that Brookfield Square Mall will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day.

The mall will reopen at 6:00 a.m. on Black Friday, November 25th.

“We want to bring back the excitement of Black Friday shopping as the true start of the holiday shopping season and allow our employees, retailers, and shoppers to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their families,” said Stephen Lebovitz, President and CEO, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. said in the release. “After evaluating feedback from our mall employees, retail partners, and input from our shoppers we determined that this was the best decision for our properties.”

Department stores, movie theaters, and retailers with exterior mall entrances will have the option to open their stores on Thanksgiving.

However, access to mall common areas will be restricted until 6:00 a.m. on Black Friday.

Several retailers have announced they'll remain closed on Thanksgiving.

According to bestblackfriday.com, while the common reason for these closures is "so employees can spend more time with friends and family," many stores also want to "bring Black Friday back," since it has really lost some of its luster in recent years.

Here is a growing list of retailers that will be closed on Thanksgiving Day:

While Mall of America will be closed, according to BestBlackFriday.com, individual stores have the option to be open. This actually means certain mall employees may have to work for security and maintenance reasons, which kind of defeats the purpose of the mall being closed if a lot of stores open.

Ace Hardware and True Value are independently owned, so each owner decides the Thanksgiving hours.

BestBlackFriday.com pointed out that "Thanksgiving Blue Laws" for Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine prevent stores in those states from being open on Thanksgiving, regardless of what the national chain is doing.

BestBlackFriday.com will be updating its list of stores that will remain closed on Thanksgiving Day as the holiday approaches.

CLICK HERE to keep tabs on the list.