Macy's will kick off its Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day

Photo by Andy Kropa/AP Images for Macy's Inc.

Macy's Herald Square flagship opened its doors at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 2017 for thousands of early Black Friday shoppers.

• Macy's will start its Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving.
• The department store is expected to be open between the hours of 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Thursday, November 22, according to BestBlackFriday.com, which called stores across the United States to verify the hours.
• This is the third year in a row that Macy's has opened during the holiday. The 5 p.m. opening time in 2016 marked the retailer's earliest Black Friday kickoff in history.

Macy's is opening its stores during Thanksgiving.

The department store is expected to be open between the hours of 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Thursday, November 22, according to BestBlackFriday.com, which called stores across the United States to verify the hours.

This is the third year in a row that Macy's has opened during the holiday. The 5 p.m. opening time in 2016 marked the retailer's earliest Black Friday kickoff in history.

Macy's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Retailers have come under fire in recent years for kicking off their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving. As a result, several have started to buck the trend and stay closed.

Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that at least 60 retailers including Costco, Home Depot, and TJ Maxx had confirmed they would remain closed on Thanksgiving. Phillip Dengler, head of editorial and content marketing for BestBlackFriday.com, told USA Today that this was the most confirmed closures it has had at this point in the year compared to previous years.

While some retailers are still hoping to capitalize on Black Friday sales early by opening during Thanksgiving, some have likely pulled back because the famous shopping day doesn't carry the same weight it once did. This is partly because consumers are increasingly shopping for deals online, which means they don't need to waste time lining up in stores for one big day of shopping. They are also used to having deals year-round, which takes pressure off of the day.

On Black Friday last year, Macy's suffered a major technical glitch that prevented customers from paying with a credit card or using gift cards in its stores.

"Came to the Macy's on State for some Black Friday shopping and all of the registers are down," one angry customer wrote on Macy's Facebook page at the time. "No credit or debit, only cash! Wasted time picking things out only to leave empty-handed with all my merchandise at the register."