Macy's will be one of the stores open on Thanksgiving Day to kick off Black Friday sales

Hours after its world-renowned Thanksgiving Day parade, Macy's will kick off its in-store Black Friday sale.

The retailer confirmed in a statement its full-line department stores will open at 5 p.m. Nov. 22 "to serve our customers who choose to begin their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day."

Earlier Thursday, BestBlackFriday.com announced Macy's stores would open at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving for the third year in a row.

Phillip Dengler, head of editorial and content marketing for BestBlackFriday.com, said the popular holiday shopping website contacted seven Macy's stores to confirm.

"Like in past years, Macy's is the first store to confirm to us its Thanksgiving and Black Friday hours for 2018," Dengler said. "While many stores have already made the difficult decision to close on Thanksgiving Day this year, Macy's will be open for business, both in-store and online."

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The hours mirror last year with stores staying open from 5 p.m. Thanksgiving to 2 a.m. and then 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Black Friday.

Macy's said in the statement it surveyed employees to find out their preferences "so that we can staff Thanksgiving with colleagues who opt-in for shifts." Employees who work any Thanksgiving shift will get overtime pay.

Despite the growing list of retailers confirming plans to stay closed on the holiday, major retailers still are expected to open.

Last year, Kohl's, Best Buy and the now-defunct Toys R Us joined Macy's with 5 p.m. Thanksgiving openings. J.C. Penney opened three hours earlier at 2 p.m.

Macy's opened for the first time on the holiday in 2013 with an 8 p.m. start. In 2014 and 2015, stores open at 6 p.m. before moving up another hour in 2016.

Store hours can vary by location. Because of state laws, stores in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island will remain closed Thanksgiving and could have different hours Friday.

Last month, Macy’s announced plans to hire approximately 80,000 seasonal workers for positions at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2018 holiday season. A national hiring event is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at stores and centers.

Company officials said in September that "a strong and successful holiday shopping season" was anticipated.

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday retail sales are expected to rise between 4.3 to 4.8 percent compared to November and December 2017.

Dengler said announcements from major retailers including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and J.C. Penney are expected in the next few weeks.

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Kelly Tyko is a consumer columnist and retail reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers and TCPalm.com, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Read her Bargainista tips at TCPalm.com/Bargainista, follow her on Twitter @KellyTyko and email her at kelly.tyko@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her weekly newsletter at www.tcpalm.com/newsletters.