What Is Open on Christmas Day 2026? Stores, Food and Services

Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, December 25, and it is the quietest retail day of the American year. Walmart, Target, Costco, nearly every supermarket chain, banks, post offices, the stock market and government offices are closed. What stays open is a short, predictable list: convenience stores and gas stations such as 7-Eleven, Wawa, Sheetz and QuikTrip, most Walgreens and CVS stores, Starbucks, Dunkin' and McDonald's locations whose owners choose to open, round-the-clock diners such as Waffle House, IHOP and Denny's, Chinese restaurants, hotel dining rooms and a handful of supermarkets.

One thing to know before reading any list, including this one: as of mid-October 2026, almost no national chain has published its Christmas 2026 hours. Retailers usually announce them between mid-November and the week before the holiday. Everything below is therefore built on two things that are solid – each company's long-standing written policy, and what it confirmed for Christmas 2025 – and each figure is labeled with its year. We will update this page as 2026 hours are published. Until then, treat last year's hours as a strong guide, not a guarantee, and confirm your own location before you drive.

What is open on Christmas Day 2026 at a glance

The table sums up the pattern. "2025" means the chain confirmed it for last Christmas; "policy" means the company states it as a standing rule.

Stores open on Christmas Day

For general shopping, the honest answer is "almost none." Walmart closes its stores only two days a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a company spokesperson confirmed the Christmas closure again for 2025. Target was closed on December 25, 2025 and reopened at 7 a.m. the next morning. Costco lists Christmas among the seven holidays on which all U.S. warehouses close. Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale Club, Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy, Kohl's, Macy's, JCPenney, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, IKEA, PetSmart, Petco, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar were all closed last Christmas, according to company statements gathered by USA Today, the Associated Press and Today.com.

That leaves drugstores and convenience stores as the places to buy batteries, wrapping paper, a phone charger, diapers, milk or a last-minute gift card. The details for each retailer, plus liquor-store rules by state, are in our guide to stores open on Christmas.

Grocery stores: the short list that opens

Most supermarket chains close for the full day: Kroger and its banners, Publix, H-E-B, Aldi, Lidl, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Wegmans, Meijer, Food Lion, Hy-Vee, Stop & Shop, Giant Eagle, Sprouts and WinCo were all closed on December 25, 2025. Publix says plainly that it closes three days a year – Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter – and Whole Foods' holiday page states, "We're closed on Christmas Day."

The exceptions last year were regional. Albertsons Companies left the decision to its divisions, so select Albertsons, Safeway and Vons stores opened on reduced hours, and most Acme stores opened from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Giant Food in the Washington-Baltimore region opened more than 136 stores from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Asian supermarkets such as H Mart, and Hispanic grocers such as Vallarta and El Super in the West, also opened. Chain-by-chain notes are in grocery stores open on Christmas.

Pharmacies: store hours and pharmacy hours are not the same thing

Walgreens and CVS are the two national chains that open on Christmas Day, and they are where most people end up for cold medicine or a forgotten prescription. Walgreens' 2025 holiday announcement said its stores would be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and added a caveat that matters: "pharmacy hours may vary." CVS told reporters last December that its pharmacies would be open on Christmas Day but that "some stores and pharmacies may have reduced hours," and asked customers to call first.

In practice the front of the store can be open while the pharmacy counter in the back is closed or working a short shift. Pharmacies inside Walmart, Costco, Target, Kroger, Publix and H-E-B are closed because the stores are closed. If you need a prescription on December 25, look specifically for a 24-hour pharmacy, and call it. Our Christmas pharmacy guide explains how to find one, what emergency refill rules allow and where to turn if no pharmacy is open.

Gas stations and convenience stores open on Christmas

Fuel is the one thing you can count on. Gas pumps take cards around the clock even where the store is locked, and the large convenience chains treat Christmas as a working day. This is what they did on December 25, 2025:

A convenience store will cover the basics – milk, eggs, bread, butter, coffee, ice, soda, over-the-counter pain relievers, batteries and phone chargers – at a higher price than a supermarket. Hot food counters and made-to-order kitchens may run shorter hours than the store itself, and not every chain opens at dawn: Casey's stores did not open until 10 a.m. last Christmas, a company spokesperson told the Des Moines Register. On long drives, interstate travel centers are the most dependable stop for fuel, restrooms and a hot meal.

Restaurants open on Christmas Day

Eating out is easier than shopping. Waffle House never closes. USA Today reported that IHOP restaurants would be open last Christmas with hours that vary by location, and Denny's asks guests to check their local restaurant for dine-in hours. Red Lobster published a schedule showing 511 of its 515 U.S. restaurants open from noon to 9 p.m. on December 25, 2025. Fogo de Chão, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Benihana, Buca di Beppo and many hotel restaurants take Christmas reservations, usually with a fixed-price menu. Independent Chinese restaurants are open in most cities and are at their busiest.

Closed by company policy: Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, Outback, Carrabba's, Chili's, The Cheesecake Factory (most locations), Bob Evans and First Watch. The full rundown, with tips on reservations and to-go Christmas dinners, is in restaurants open on Christmas Day.

Fast food and coffee

Fast food on Christmas depends on who owns the restaurant. McDonald's said last year that most of its U.S. restaurants would be open; Starbucks, Dunkin', Burger King, Wendy's, Subway and Domino's all said hours vary by location because franchise owners or local managers decide. A few chains close everywhere as a matter of policy: Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Chipotle, In-N-Out, Whataburger, Raising Cane's, Panera, Jersey Mike's and Krispy Kreme. See fast food open on Christmas for every chain and the fastest way to check a single location.

Mail, packages, banks and the stock market

Christmas Day is one of the 11 federal holidays set by law, and the Office of Personnel Management lists it for Friday, December 25, 2026. That closes federal offices, federal courts and Social Security offices. The Postal Service lists Christmas Day among its 2026 holidays: post offices close and there is no regular mail delivery. UPS says there is "no UPS pickup or delivery service" on December 25, 2026, and FedEx lists itself as closed that day; both keep their premium emergency services running.

The Federal Reserve is closed, and so are bank branches. ATMs, mobile apps and card payments work normally, but transfers started on the holiday do not begin processing until the next business day, which in 2026 is Monday, December 28. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are closed on Christmas Day and close early, at 1 p.m. Eastern, on Thursday, December 24, 2026.

Christmas Eve is a different story: it is not a federal holiday, mail is delivered and banks open, although presidents have several times given federal workers the day off by executive order. The full explanation, with 2026 shipping deadlines, is in is Christmas Eve a federal holiday.

Things to do and services that keep running

• Movie theaters. AMC, Regal and Cinemark have not published a chain-wide Christmas Day 2026 policy that we could find, so we make no promise for any of them. Look up your own theater in the chain's app or on its website: if showtimes are on sale for December 25, that location is open, and the first and last showtimes tell you its hours.
• National parks. Many large parks never close their gates. The National Park Service says Grand Canyon's South Rim, Great Smoky Mountains and Sequoia and Kings Canyon are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Visitor centers, park roads, lodges and ferry-served sites keep their own schedules and some close for the day, so open the park's "Operating Hours & Seasons" page before you set out.
• Gyms. Planet Fitness clubs are franchised and the company says holiday hours vary by location; Orangetheory told USA Today its studios were closed last Christmas, and each YMCA sets its own schedule.
• Public transit. Most systems run a Sunday or holiday timetable. New York's MTA, for instance, ran a Sunday schedule on Christmas Day 2025. Check your agency a few days ahead.
• Trash pickup. WM (Waste Management) lists Christmas Day, December 25, among its commonly observed holidays, and Republic Services has a holiday schedule lookup by address. Neither publishes one national rule for what happens to a Friday collection, because schedules are set by each local contract or city. Use your hauler's lookup tool or your town's notice instead of assuming a one-day delay.
• Hospitals and emergency care. Emergency rooms never close. Some urgent care clinics open, usually on reduced hours; Patient First, for one, advertises walk-in hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 365 days a year. Call before you go.
• Truck rental. U-Haul says Christmas is the one day its stores close, though trucks booked through its app can still be picked up and returned.

What is closed on Christmas Day

If a place is on this list, do not plan around it on December 25:

• Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's
• Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy, IKEA, Tractor Supply, most Ace Hardware stores
• Kohl's, Macy's, JCPenney, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Burlington, shopping malls
• Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar
• Kroger, Publix, H-E-B, Aldi, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Meijer and most other supermarkets
• Post offices, banks, stock and bond markets
• Federal, state and local government offices, courts, DMVs and public libraries
• Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Chipotle, In-N-Out, Whataburger, Panera, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse
• State-run liquor stores, and all liquor stores in states that ban Christmas Day sales

Why 2026 feels different: Christmas falls on a Friday

A Friday Christmas creates a three-day weekend with a short Thursday in front of it. A few practical consequences:

• Christmas Eve is a weekday. Stores will be busy through the afternoon and most will close early. Our guide to Christmas Eve hours lists last year's closing times chain by chain.
• The next business day is Monday, December 28. Bank transfers, check deposits and most government services pause from the close of business on Thursday until Monday.
• Saturday, December 26 is an ordinary Saturday. It is not a federal holiday. Stores reopen early for returns and clearance sales – Walmart reopened at 6 a.m. and Target at 7 a.m. on December 26 last year – and mail is delivered.
• Some state offices close Thursday too. Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Georgia are among the states whose 2026 holiday calendars give state employees December 24 off, which also closes most state agencies there.

How to check before you leave the house

Chain policies describe what most locations do. Your location may differ, particularly at franchised restaurants, licensed stores inside airports and hospitals, and in states with their own holiday rules. A quick routine avoids a wasted trip:

1. Look up the specific store in the company's own app or store locator. These pull hours from the store's system and usually show a holiday-hours note for the coming week.
2. Call the store. It takes a minute and is the only way to confirm a pharmacy counter, a kitchen or a drive-thru rather than the building as a whole.
3. Be skeptical of map listings. Hours shown in map apps are often regular hours that nobody updated for the holiday. A warning that "holiday hours may differ" means exactly that.
4. Use filters for 24-hour locations. The CVS and Walgreens locators both have separate filters for stores open 24 hours and pharmacies open 24 hours.
5. Go early. Almost everything that opens on Christmas Day closes by late afternoon. The supermarkets that opened last year were shut by 2 to 5 p.m.
6. Have a fallback. If the diner has a two-hour wait or the store is dark, know where the nearest 24-hour convenience store or travel center is.

The best way to avoid the question is to shop by Wednesday, December 23. If you are cooking, check the recipe list twice for the things people forget: butter, heavy cream, eggs, foil, stock and ice. If you are sending cards, our Christmas wishes collection and the free card maker work on any day of the year.

When will 2026 Christmas hours be announced?

Going by last year, the first official schedules appear around the week before Thanksgiving. Walgreens published its 2025 holiday hours on November 19, Target posted its holiday store hours on November 20, and Virginia's state liquor authority announced its schedule on November 17. Shipping companies move earlier: the Postal Service issued its 2026 holiday mailing deadlines on September 22, and UPS and FedEx have already posted 2026 holiday service schedules. One retailer is ahead of everyone – Pennsylvania's state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores have already confirmed they will close by 6 p.m. on December 24, 2026 and stay closed on December 25.

Most restaurant chains wait until December. News roundups with spokesperson-confirmed hours typically run between December 12 and December 24. We will replace the 2025 figures on this page with 2026 hours as each company confirms them. If you are reading this before Thanksgiving, our sister guide to stores open on Thanksgiving covers that holiday in the same way.