In the United States, Memorial Day 2026 is a federal holiday that honors the men and women who died while serving in the US military.
The day is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May. This day is also recognized as the unofficial start of the summer season often marked with parades, barbecues and family gatherings.
Since Memorial Day is a federal holiday, people come across the various challenges of managing the errands, shopping trips while navigating the varied schedules of stores and retailers.
Hence, to help you plan your day, there is a comprehensive guide, outlining which businesses, services or shops would be open or closed.
Government and Services
For Memorial Day 2026, most government services, including non-essential federal, state and local government offices would be closed. Even the administrative departments and courts are also closed.
Talking about the financial institutions, most branches of banks are also non-operational but online banking services and ATMs will be working effectively.
For mail and shipping, post offices are closed and regular mail delivery is also suspended. UPS and FedEx are also closed.
The US stock markets including NYSE and Nasdaq are closed.
In terms of retailers, Costco will be closed on this day in observance of this holiday.
Grocery stores and retailers
The major retailer chains have announced that their store will be opened on May 25 as reported by USA Today. Here is the full list of stores operational on this holiday:
- Walmart (7:00 am-10-11:00 pm supercentres timings)
- Kroger
- Food Lion
- Trader Joe’s
- Meijer
- Publix
- Whole Foods
- Target
- Home Depot
- Lowe’s
- Sam’s Club (open at 8 a.m. for Plus members and 9 a.m. for Club members, and they will close at 8 p.m)
- Dollar General
- Dollar Tree
- Family General
- BJ warehouses (8am-10pm)
- Albertsons (6:00 am- 11:00 pm)
Before making any visit, it’s a good idea to call and check your local store’s hours of working.
Pharmacy chains like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid maintain their regular or slightly reduced holiday hours.
Major restaurant chains such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin and Wendy’s will remain open.
