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Black Friday 2016: Are Banks Open Today? A Full List Of What’s Open, What’s Closed, And When To Go Shopping

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 03:24 PST, Nov 24, 2016

Black Friday 2016 has arrived, and as shoppers clog the malls and department stores to kick off the holiday shopping season, there are also questions about what’s open and closed and whether banks or post offices are open.

The day after Thanksgiving is something of an unofficial American holiday, with many employers chalking it up as a day off, and many people head to the stores to take advantage of the biggest sales of the year. But there is also a lot of confusion about what stores might be open and closed, so anyone planning a series of errands might be left in the dark.

Help has now arrived. Below is a list of everything that’s open and closed on Black Friday 2016, along with a guide of when stores are opening for their Black Friday sales.

What’s open on Black Friday 2016

Unlike Thanksgiving, Black Friday is not a federal holiday. That means government offices are open, the U.S. Postal Service is accepting and delivering mail, and the Department of Motor Vehicles is open as well. Most local government offices will also be open (there may be some exceptions, especially in the smallest municipalities).

Nearly all stores will be open on Black Friday 2016 as well, as it is one of the most important days for retailers. The same goes for restaurants and movie theaters, which grab a huge share of spillover traffic from shoppers looking for a break.

And all the banks that are closed on Thanksgiving will be re-opening on Black Friday, so anyone who had to put off making a deposit or transferring funds will be able to take care of it on Friday.

Whats closed on Black Friday 2016

While Black Friday is one of the most important days of the year both for retailers and shoppers, not every store is staying open. A few have made the decision to close for the Thanksgiving weekend, giving their employees a chance to spend a few days with their families.

One of the stores closed on Black Friday is the outdoor outfitter REI, which is joining the #OptOutside campaign. This aims to get people to enjoy the great outdoors on what is traditionally a day for squeezing inside a shopping mall and spending some money on Christmas gifts.

REI is actually helping customers take part as well, Travel and Leisure noted.

“Customers who show up at REI’s Boston location will be shuttled free to Monadnock State Park in New Hampshire; those in Denver can get to Golden Gate Canyon State Park; San Francisco locals can hitch a ride to Pierce Point Ranch & Tule Elk Preserve; Seattle customers will get a ride to Olympic National Park and D.C. customers will go to Great Falls Overlook.”

As the U.S. Department of the Interior noted, there are plenty of great public lands to explore on Black Friday 2016 instead of staying cooped up inside the house. And even though some stores will be closed on Black Friday 2016, a huge number of state and national parks will have free admission to entice people to enjoy the outside.

While REI is one of the few stores that will actually be closed on Black Friday, a number of others have cut back or done away entirely with Thanksgiving shopping hours. SILive.com compiled a list of 52 stores that chopped their Black Friday shopping hours that actually happened to fall on Thanksgiving. They include Hobby Lobby, IKEA, Home Depot, and COSTCO.

Those planning other trips to locally-owned stores on Black Friday and aren’t sure if they will be open or closed would be best served by calling ahead to check.

[Featured Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

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