Home Depot copies Walmart with decision customers might hate | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

There’s a joke that there’s no such thing as a single Home Depot trip.

For every purchase you make, there’s inevitably a return and a follow-up purchase to get the right materials for your home improvement project.

But jokes aside, one thing Home Depot is known for is being open almost all the time.

Many Home Depot locations open as early as 6 in the morning, even on weekends. In fact, it makes sense for the store to open early on weekends so that people can maximize their days off from work and tackle the projects they’ve been putting off.

Now you’d think that a store with 6 a.m. opening hours would perhaps close in the early evening. But many Home Depot locations remain open until 10 p.m., giving customers a very long window to shop for the items they need.

Home Depot offers uniquely long hours of operation.

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Home Depot rarely closes during the year

Because Home Depot has a reputation for being one of those stores that’s always open, the home improvement giant closes sparingly. Whereas many retailers close for big holidays such as Labor Day, July 4th, and Memorial Day, Home Depot stays open.

However, Home Depot does insist on closing its doors for two days during the year — Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

It’s the same closure schedule Walmart upholds, and it’s one that may upset consumers — especially deal-hunters who want to get ahead of the Black Friday action.

But in reality, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day typically aren’t big days for home improvement. So not being able to shop at Home Depot during those two 24-hour periods shouldn’t be such a huge deal.

Closing for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas is also good for company morale. Allowing workers to spend the holidays with their families is a big part of employee retention, and it aligns with Home Depot’s values.

As the company says on its careers page, “We live by our values. We think of them as instructions that guide our actions each day. Our values keep us all working toward the same goals, so we can build strong teams and deliver the service our customers count on from us.”

Home Depot’s Black Friday deals more than make up for a Thanksgiving closure

For many people, shopping on Thanksgiving Day is a great way to get a jump on scooping up holiday bargains.

But at Home Depot, that won’t be an option. It also won’t be necessary.

Home Depot is already running a number of Black Friday deals on its website. Shoppers who visit Home Depot or its website ahead of Thanksgiving can already score big savings on products such as:

Appliances
Power tools
Home storage
Holiday decor

Of course, at a time when visits to Home Depot are down, the company needs to be strategic in its approach to closures. Home Depot visits declined 0.4% year over year during the company’s most recent fiscal quarter, according to data from Placer.ai.

But the company is optimistic that as younger Americans leave their parents’ homes and start getting their own places, foot traffic — and sales — should pick up. A gradual reduction in mortgage rates could also fuel this trend.

But either way, closing for two holidays during the year isn’t going to move the needle much for Home Depot. If anything, it’s a strategic move that buys the company goodwill among employees, which is something that could ultimately lead to a more positive customer experience.