NEW YORK (AP) - Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic.To limit crowds in stores, retailers last year were forced to turn what had become a weekend shopping blitz into an extended event, with holiday sales beginning as early as October.That forced shift appears to have been fortuitous.U.S.
holiday sales last November and December rose 8.2% in 2020 from the previous year, according to The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group.