Academy plans a happy Thanksgiving

Academy Sports and Outdoors' 186 locations won’t be open Thanksgiving Day, but the retailer does have other operational and promotional strategies planned including a 5 a.m.Black Friday opening.

The $4 billion retailer said it was continuing its longstanding practice of not opening on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, leading up to Thanksgiving Academy plans to provide customers access to shop its Black Friday deals early through three major sales events – Early Access, Black Friday Starts Now, and Black Friday.

"As a family-oriented store, it is important for our associates to be able to spend the holiday with family," says Rodney Faldyn, Academy Sports and Outdoors' president and CEO. "Customers who want to shop our Black Friday Hot Deals early can do so on Academy.com from the convenience of their home on Thanksgiving Day, or visit their local store when we open at 5 a.m. on Black Friday."

The company’s "Early Access" event will offer Black Friday deals earlier than ever, beginning Sunday, Nov. 16. All that week, the stores and Academy.com will have Black Friday prices on gifts including bikes, Razor scooters and ride-ons, branded athletic footwear, apparel and fleece from Nike and Under Armour, Columbia outerwear, hunting camo and gear, particularly youth archery made popular by the Hunger Games trilogy and films. Other featured products include fitness equipment, electronics including wearable activity trackers from Jawbone, Yeti coolers, game tables, trampolines and basketball goals, and more.

The following Sunday, Nov. 23, Academy begins its "Black Friday Starts Now" event offering access to even more of Academy's Black Friday Hot Deal products and pricing to help its customers avoid the long lines on Black Friday. Additional doorbuster hot deals will become available online Thanksgiving Day and throughout that weekend in stores and on Academy.com. In addition, Academy said its stores would stay open an hour later beginning Dec. 8 and then offer extended shopping hours from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Dec. 14-23.

Academy has grown considerably in recent years and it now operates 186 stores in its home state of Texas and Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee.