2016, 2017 New Year’s Hours: What Stores And Restaurants Are Open On New Year’s Eve And New Year’s Day?
Believe it or not, it isn’t nearly as difficult to find a place to shop or dine at on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as it is for other holidays. It is much easier to find a location with later store hours and just being open at all than it is for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but some places are still limited. Make sure to look around and see what will be closing early on December 31, 2016, and others that won’t be open at all on January 1, 2017, because store hours are going to vary.
This year, New Year’s Eve happens to fall on a Saturday, and that is rather good for anyone and everyone around the world. With it taking place on Saturday, party-goers can say goodbye to 2016 and welcome in 2017 without worrying about having to go to work in the morning.
Ok, so, there will be some people who have to go to work, but it won’t be as many having to head into the office if the day after was a Monday or Tuesday.
Most stores and restaurants are going to be open on New Year’s Day but don’t expect a lot of federal or government buildings to be open. A few places you won’t find open are listed below.
- United States Post Office
- Department of Motor Vehicles
- Social Security Office
Please remember that New Year’s Day is a federal holiday and falls on a Sunday this year. That being said, there aren’t a lot of those businesses which would be open whether it was a holiday or not. So, that isn’t going to be totally unexpected for anyone in this situation.
The official website for the United States Postal Service says they won’t deliver on New Year’s Day, but again, with New Year’s Day falling on a Sunday, that won’t be anything out of the ordinary.
As is typical on Saturdays, many banks have shorter hours and the same can be said about New Year’s Eve this year too. Many branches will cease operations and close their doors by 2 p.m. If you need to get any transactions done, make sure to do them on Friday or early on Saturday before you’re locked out.
All banks are scheduled to be closed on New Year’s Day 2017, and once more, that is no big surprise with it being a Sunday. Pharmacies are a little different as most will be closing at 6 p.m. or maybe 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and operating regular Sunday business hours on New Year’s Day.
As TIME points out, though, many 24-hour locations of CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid will keep their normal business hours.
Call ahead to be sure, as restaurant locations are usually franchised out and don’t always follow the same hours announced by the main office. Here are just some of the dining locations you can check out on New Year’s Eve, but beware of hours for some may close early.
- Applebee’s
- Baskin-Robbins
- Boston Market
- Burger King
- Country Buffet
- Dave & Buster’s
- Denny’s
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- IHOP
- Hardee’s
- HomeTown Buffet
- Jack in the Box
- KFC
- McDonald’s
- Old Country Buffet
- Olive Garden
- Panda Express
- Papa John’s
- Pizza Hut
- Ruby Tuesday
- Ryan’s
- Sonic Drive-In
- Starbucks Coffee
- Subway
- Taco Bell
- TGI Fridays
- Waffle House
Now, when it comes to shopping and doing some normal pick-ups at major retailers or grocery stores, you will want to check ahead before heading out. Most Walmart locations will keep regular business hours, but the non-24-hour stores may close early on New Year’s Eve. AL.com states that most stores will generally operate from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and reopen at 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
New Year’s Eve 2016 hours for other major retail stores are:
- Target: Open until 9 p.m.
- Best Buy: Open 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.
- Kohl’s: Open 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.
- Kmart: Open 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.
- Macy’s: Open 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.
- Dollar General: Open regular store hours per location
- JCPenney: Open 10 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.
- Home Depot: Open 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.
When looking at grocery stores across the United States, expect a lot of them to close early as well. Most chains will be closing at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve with some closing as early as 7 p.m. or even 6 p.m. Publix locations are staying open a bit later on New Year’s Eve, according to their official site, and will not close until 9 p.m.
On New Year’s Day, check with your nearest location, but most will be operating regular store hours. Once more, though, with it being a Sunday, hours may be short as usual.
Looking at New Year’s Eve 2016, more stores than you think will be open, but they will have limited hours. Businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants, retail shops, and malls want to give their employees the chance to ring in the new year in style as well as everyone else.
On New Year’s Day, things will be open, but some franchised out locations may take things a bit differently and open later than usual. Always call ahead to be sure but look for things to return to normal on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017.
New Year’s Eve 2016 and New Year’s Day 2017 are going to be here before you know it, and that means this long year is almost over. For those looking to celebrate and have fun, you need to be careful, but you also need to know the store hours of many locations and pay attention to which restaurants and businesses may not be open at all. This list will help you schedule things out and roll out the old while welcoming in the new.
[Featured Image by Neilson Bernard/Getty Images]
