Levy proposes requiring store closings on Thanksgiving

Don't expect to go shopping at Kmart or Walmart on Thanksgiving afternoon next year if a proposed law by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wins approval.

Levy said Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation requiring large retail stores of more than 7,500 square feet to be closed from noon until 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, beginning next year.

"Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday that is uniquely distinguished as a family day," Levy said. "Certain stores do not recognize some employees' need to take time off from work, so this legislation is designed to help preserve an aspect of Thanksgiving that makes it such a special, bonding occasion."

Levy said his proposed law, modeled after legislation enacted in Maine in 2003, would not cover restaurants, theaters and supermarkets.

That means Kmart and Walmart would be closed, but Stop & Shop, which usually is open until 3 p.m., would not be affected. Many other large stores, such as Best Buy, Lowe's and Home Depot, are closed Thursday.

"This is the 19th year that Kmart will be open on Thanksgiving," said a spokeswoman for Sears Holding Corp in the Chicago suburbs, which owns both Sears and Kmart. "We have continued to listen to our customers who have told us they want the opportunity to start holiday shopping early after they finish their Thanksgiving dinner, or to have a place to pick up last-minute items forgotten to make meals special. However, we decline to comment on the possible legislation until we are able to review it."

Walmart representatives could not be reached.

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Levy said he hopes to introduce his bill next week. As a county legislator in 1999, he proposed similar legislation but it failed to gain traction. "At the time there were very few of these stores opening. A decade later it's becoming more of the norm," he said Wednesday.

"It puts small businesses in a catch-22 - you either have to give up dinner with your family or give up sales to your competitors," Levy said. .

Legislative Deputy Presiding Officer Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Setauket) said she is usually far apart from Levy on political issues, but "I completely agree with him on this. I see the extreme of stores outdoing themselves, opening at 3 a.m., opening at midnight. People who are minimum-wage workers can't say no, they have to go into work."

Such fines may not deter large retailers, but Levy said, "Most of the stores don't willfully violate the law."

He acknowledged that stores may get around the proposed restrictions by opening Thanksgiving morning or evening.