Both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day of 2025 are on weekdays; and so people may wonder if some businesses will open, or wait it out until Thursday, January 2. Essential services like pharmacies will be open, and retailers plus grocery stores will also receive customers on these holidays as people never stop running errands. The likes of retail stores like CVS will have many of their locations working on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; however, some will work for a limited number of hours just like most Walgreens outlets. Rite Aid will have their store running on both days.
As for retail store shoppers, Walmart will open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s, which is the same as Target, although some stores are set to close early. Many Home Depot and Lowes locations will close at 6 PM on New Year’s Eve, and open by 9 AM the next day. Lowes is set to close by 6 PM which is two hours earlier than Home Depot plans to. Macy’s on the other hand, will do regular hours on New Year’s Day; however, for New Year’s Eve they will be open from 10 AM to 7 PM.
Are banks open on New Year’s Eve?
Due to the Federal Reserve banking holiday, most banks such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo will be closed on New Year’s Day. Many are probably wondering, is New Year’s Eve a federal holiday? Or the start of the new year? The 31st is not a federal holiday, which helps inform which establishments will be open; January 1, however, is a federally-observed holiday.
With this in mind, note that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will not be trading on New Year’s either; however, mobile banking services and ATMs are always working. Like banks, postal services like USPS will not be working on New Year’s Day. FedEx will also follow suit, however their custom critical service unit will be open. New Year’s Eve will see a bit of operation from FedEx and UPS, because recall New Year’s Eve is not a federal holiday, for which their Express Critical will be open for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
As for grocery stores, Albertson companies— which include ACME, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Safeway, Shaws, Vons, and Tom Thumb, will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but with reduced work hours. Most Kroger family stores, including Kroger City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, QFC, Pick and Save, and others, will do regular working hours on both days, while Costco and Sam’s Club will be closed on New Year’s Day. Aldi, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s shoppers might need to get their groceries early as they will also follow suit and will not be in operation on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as well.
Is New Year’s Eve a federal holiday?
New Year’s Day is a federal holiday in the United States and is observed on the first day of January each year, but not eve. This aligns with the global tradition of marking the beginning of a new year, which means people would want to spend time with their families, hence the holiday. Designating New Year’s Day as a public holiday was also a way of ensuring that federal employees have a paid day off.
Because New Year’s Eve is not a federal holiday, while January 1 is, most businesses may resume normal operations on January 2 if New Year’s Day falls on a weekday such as in 2025. If New Year’s happens to fall on a Sunday, then the holiday is observed the next day, which is January 2 and businesses go back to normal operations from the Tuesday after. Like most businesses, healthcare professionals do not get to enjoy New Year’s Day off in general, except the day off is a part of your regular schedule. Most affected by these are the emergency room staff such as the doctors and nurses. Most healthcare facilities will offer additional compensation to their essential workers for working on New Year’s Day.
