Why the same store keeps different hours in the next town over
The chain sets a national pattern — then the law, the landlord, and the store itself each get a vote. That is why one location closes on a day when the same sign, ten minutes away, is lit up as usual. Here are the three layers that decide your store's hours, and the New Jersey court case putting all three on display in 2026.
Published October 24, 2026. Laws and case status below are stated as of the dates shown. Hours for any specific store still need a same-week check — the last section explains how.
The short answer: a pattern, then three overrides
Our guide to how retailers decide holiday hours covers the chain-level math: staffing costs, where the sales go, and goodwill. But a headquarters decision is only the starting point. Between that decision and your local store's door sit three things that can change it: the law where the store stands, the lease the store signed, and the store itself. Any one of them can move the hours — and none of them shows up in the chain's national announcement.
Layer 1: the law can close the store outright
In most of the US, opening on a holiday is the retailer's choice. In a few places, it is not a choice at all. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine prohibit most retailers from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day — the last surviving pieces of the old “blue laws.” A chain that opens on Thanksgiving everywhere else still closes in Boston, Providence, and Portland, because state law says so.
The details differ by state, which is exactly the point. In Massachusetts, the statutory exception that lets retailers open on Sundays and many other holidays — with voluntary staffing and premium pay — does not apply to Thanksgiving or Christmas. In Maine, the ban is written around the store itself: under Title 17, §3204, a store with more than 5,000 square feet of interior customer selling space may not open on Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Small shops can open, and whole categories are exempt — pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, and hotels among them. So in Maine on Thanksgiving, the big-box store is dark by law while the small pharmacy down the road is legally open. Same holiday, same street, different rules.
The sharpest example in the country is not a holiday at all — it is every Sunday in Bergen County, New Jersey. When New Jersey let counties vote on its Sunday closing law in 1959, Bergen adopted it; county after county later repealed it, and Bergen is now the only one of the state's 21 counties still living under it. Voters kept it in 1980 and again in 1993. The law bans Sunday sales in five categories: clothing, building and lumber materials, furniture, home and office furnishings, and appliances. Groceries, medicine, restaurants, and gasoline are exempt. And Paramus — one of the heaviest retail towns in America, with three malls on Routes 4 and 17 — layers a stricter borough ordinance from 1957 on top: where the county law lets a store open but not sell the banned goods, Paramus stops most stores from opening at all. A few towns away, in Passaic or Essex County, the same chains trade normal Sunday hours.
The 2026 test case: a mall, a lawsuit, and no ruling yet
Whether those Sunday rules reach the state's biggest mall is being decided in court right now. The American Dream mall in East Rutherford — three million square feet next to MetLife Stadium — kept its retail stores closed on Sundays for its first years, then began opening them. In August 2025, Paramus sued the mall's operator, arguing that more than 120 stores were selling banned goods on Sundays. The mall's defense is a map: it stands on land owned by a state agency, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and it argues the county law does not reach state-owned land.
A Bergen County Superior Court judge heard arguments on June 9, 2026 and reserved judgment. The wait has already stretched through the summer — the World Cup final at MetLife fell on a Sunday in July, with American Dream's stores open and selling while the malls ten miles north in Paramus sat dark. As of October 21, 2026, no written decision had been reported, and the stores were open the previous Sunday. The stakes run past one mall: in a March 2026 court filing, Paramus said the managers of its own three malls had warned they might stop honoring the blue laws if American Dream is allowed to ignore them, while Garden State Plaza publicly pledged to keep following the law either way. Until the ruling lands, two malls in the same county are running different Sundays under the same statute — the clearest possible answer to why hours differ by location.
Layer 2: the lease can hold the store open
A store inside a mall answers to a second document: its lease. Many retail leases contain continuous-operation clauses requiring the tenant to remain open during the shopping center's hours, with only specific exceptions. Landlords insist on them for a practical reason — a center where half the stores go dark loses the foot traffic every tenant depends on. If a holiday is not listed as an exception, a tenant that closes anyway can face penalties from the landlord.
That cuts both ways for shoppers. A mall tenant may stay open on a day its free-standing sister store across town closes, because the mall is open and the lease says so. And hours can differ within one mall: anchor stores, movie theaters, and restaurants commonly negotiate exceptions or extended hours of their own, while smaller tenants follow the center's schedule. When you check hours for a mall store, check the store — not just the mall's posted hours.
Layer 3: the store itself
The last layer is the building. Format matters: a chain's 24-hour locations are a minority even within chains that have them, as our look at whether 24-hour stores are coming back shows, and warehouse clubs, supercenters, and small-format stores of the same brand run different schedules by design. Size matters too — Maine's 5,000-square-foot line is written into law, but everywhere, a bigger store needs a bigger crew to open at all. Many chains also franchise or license some locations, and local operators work within chain standards rather than copying a national sheet word for word, so posted hours can vary by location even under the same logo. Finally, a store is not one schedule: the pharmacy counter, deli, and photo desk inside often keep shorter hours than the store around them — our Walgreens and CVS pages flag this wherever it applies.
Same chain, four different answers
| Situation | What decides the hours | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Big-box store in Maine on Thanksgiving | State law (over 5,000 sq ft) | Closed — even if the chain opens elsewhere |
| Small pharmacy in the same Maine town | State law exemption | May open, often reduced hours |
| Mall store in Paramus, NJ on Sunday | County blue law + borough ordinance | Closed — while the same chain opens in the next county |
| Store inside an open mall on a holiday | Lease continuous-operation clause | Open on the mall's schedule, even if sister stores close |
How to check your exact store
- Start with the chain's store locator, set to your location. It is the one listing built to reflect local law, local leases, and local staffing — not the national pattern quoted in news roundups, including our own Thanksgiving 2026 hub.
- On Google, look for confirmed special hours for that date. Google advises businesses to confirm their hours for official holidays even when nothing changes, precisely so customers can tell the hours are accurate. A listing that has not been confirmed may warn that hours might differ around the holiday — treat that warning as “not yet verified,” not as an answer.
- Ask which layer applies to you. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Maine on Thanksgiving, or in Bergen County on a Sunday, the law answers the question before the chain does. Start there and you will not be surprised.
- Call when the trip matters — and ask about the counter you need. A store can be open while its pharmacy is not. One call settles both.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the same chain have different hours in different towns?
Because the chain only sets the starting pattern. State and local law can override it (three states ban most stores from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Bergen County, New Jersey, bans most Sunday retail sales), a mall lease can require a store to follow the mall's hours, and the store itself — its size, format, and staffing — shapes the rest. The result is that two locations of one chain, a few miles apart, can legally have different hours.
Which states ban stores from opening on Thanksgiving?
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine prohibit most retailers from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Maine's rule is written around store size: a store with more than 5,000 square feet of customer selling space may not open on Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, so small shops and exempt categories like pharmacies can still open. In Massachusetts, the exception retailers use to open on Sundays does not extend to Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Why are malls in Bergen County, New Jersey, closed on Sundays?
Bergen County is the last county in New Jersey that kept the state's Sunday closing law (adopted county-by-county under a 1959 statute). It bans Sunday sales of clothing, building and lumber materials, furniture, home and office furnishings, and appliances. Paramus, the county's biggest retail town, adds a stricter borough rule dating to 1957 that stops most stores from opening at all on Sundays. Groceries, pharmacies, restaurants, and gas stations are exempt and stay open.
Can a mall force a store to open on a holiday?
Often, yes. Many retail leases contain continuous-operation clauses requiring the tenant to stay open during the shopping center's hours, with only listed exceptions. If a holiday is not one of the exceptions, a store that closes anyway can face penalties from the landlord. Large anchors, theaters, and restaurants commonly negotiate their own exceptions — which is one reason hours inside one mall can differ from store to store.
How do I find the hours for my exact store?
Check that location in the chain's own store locator first — it reflects local law and local decisions, not the national pattern. On Google, look for confirmed special hours for the date; Google advises businesses to confirm holiday hours even when they are unchanged, and an unconfirmed listing may carry a warning that hours might differ. If the trip matters, call the store — and ask about the pharmacy counter separately, because it often keeps shorter hours than the store.
Sources
- Around Bergen (checked Oct 18, 2026): What's open in Paramus on Sundays? — aroundbergen.com
- David Boles (Oct 22, 2026): The Last Closed Sunday — American Dream litigation status as of Oct 21, 2026 — bolesblogs.com
- Ogletree Deakins via JD Supra: New England employers beware holiday opening bans (MA, RI, ME) — jdsupra.com
- Cape Cod Times (Nov 26, 2025): Some blue laws are still in effect in MA — capecodtimes.com
- WHOM (2025): Why Maine closes big stores on Thanksgiving every year (Title 17, §3204) — 949whom.com
- JD Supra (Womble Bond Dickinson): Commercial landlord citing lease terms to prevent stores from closing on Thanksgiving Day — jdsupra.com
- Google Business Profile Help: Set special hours — support.google.com
Go deeper with AI
This article is the starting point. Copy any of these prompts into your favorite AI assistant to learn more about why the same chain keeps different hours in different places:
🔎 Plan a Sunday shopping trip around Bergen County's blue laws
I need to buy [item, e.g. a pair of shoes / a toaster / lumber] on a Sunday near Paramus, New Jersey. Bergen County bans Sunday sales of clothing, furniture, appliances, building materials and furnishings, and Paramus stops most stores opening at all, while groceries, pharmacies and restaurants stay open. Tell me: can I buy this item in Bergen County on Sunday, which nearby county I should drive to instead, and what to check before I go?
🧭 Work out what stays open on Thanksgiving in a blue-law state
I will be in [city] in Massachusetts / Rhode Island / Maine on Thanksgiving Day, when state law keeps most stores closed — but in Maine, stores with 5,000 square feet or less of selling space and exempt categories such as pharmacies can open. Build me a realistic Thanksgiving plan: what kinds of places can I count on, what to buy the day before, and how to verify one specific store before driving there.
💡 Settle a conflict between two listings for the same store
Google says the [store name] in [city] is open until [time] on [holiday], but the chain's own store locator says something different, and the Google listing warns that hours might differ. Which source should I trust and why? Give me a 3-step check I can reuse whenever two listings disagree about holiday hours.
Tip: replace the bracketed parts with your own situation — the more specific your prompt, the more useful the answer.
Summary
A chain's announced hours are a pattern, not a promise. State and local law overrides it in a handful of places — Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine close most stores on Thanksgiving and Christmas, Maine exempts stores under 5,000 square feet, and Bergen County, New Jersey, still bans most Sunday retail, with Paramus stricter still. A mall lease can pull the other way and hold a store open on the center's schedule. And the store's own size, format, and counters finish the job. The 2026 American Dream lawsuit — argued in June, still undecided in late October — is all three layers colliding in one county.
The single most important point
Never plan around a chain's national hours. The hours that govern your trip belong to one specific store, and they are set locally — by the law of its state, county, or town, by its lease, and by the building itself. Check that location in the chain's own locator, and in a blue-law state or county, check the law first.
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