What is The Easter Sunday Retail Blackout and What Does It Mean For New York?

A growing list of stores are set to close on Easter Sunday to participate in an upcoming "retail blackout."

For a very long time shopping on the major holidays became a common activity. Black Friday began to creep closer and closer to Thanksgiving until finally shopping on Thanksgiving night was common. Now, in 2025, we're starting to see a bit of pushback.

While shoppers would go into these store for sales and the save money, it also forced employees of those stores to work on holidays and deal with large crowds and in some cases, hostile customers. It appears the first stance is being taken on April 20, 2025 by many stores to do a "retail blackout."

Retail Blackout

The list of stores in New York and beyond has grown very large for the Easter shutdown. Right now there are over a dozen stores that have decided to give employees a well deserved break for the holiday, according to The Sun.

The CEO of Lowe's had this to say after saying that their stores would closed on Easter Sunday.

In recognition of our teams' continued hard work, we are pleased to provide a well-deserved day off so they can spend Easter with their loved ones.

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It can't be said for sure if this trend will continue into the bigger holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there are many stores that have elected not to open on Thanksgiving in the last few years, instead waiting to open up early on Friday morning instead.

While many stores will be closed on Easter Sunday, others like Walmart, Home Depot and Dollar General will remain open for shoppers, but make sure to check their hours to find out when.