Black Friday 2026 in Chicago: Hours and Where to Go

Black Friday 2026 is Friday, Nov. 27. Thanksgiving is the day before, Thursday, Nov. 26, and Small Business Saturday follows on Nov. 28. This guide covers who is closed on Thanksgiving, what time the Chicago-area malls open on Friday, how the big chains are handling the day, and where to shop independent on Saturday. Every hour below comes from the business’s, mall’s or chamber’s own page, or from a dated 2026 report we name. Hours still change late in the season, so check the store’s own page the night before.

The holiday season starts a week earlier downtown. The Magnificent Mile’s own site lists the 2026 Lights Festival for Saturday, Nov. 21, with the parade stepping off at 5:30pm from Oak Street and Michigan Avenue and fireworks at about 7:30pm. NBC Chicago reported that the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza (50 W Washington St) opens Friday, Nov. 20. Our holiday markets and lights guide has the details on both.

Plan on the malls being shut. Woodfield Mall (5 Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg) lists Thanksgiving as closed on its 2026 holiday hours page. As of Nov. 1, Water Tower Place, Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Chicago Premium Outlets and Gurnee Mills also listed Thanksgiving as closed on their own hours pages.

Most big-box chains are closed too. Yahoo Shopping’s Nov. 2, 2026 roundup lists Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Costco and Home Depot as closed on Thanksgiving Day. Macy’s, Nordstrom and Apple weren’t on that list, so check their store pages before you count on them.

What is open on Thursday morning is State Street. The Chicago Thanksgiving Parade’s site lists the 2026 parade for Thanksgiving morning, 8 to 11am, heading north on State Street from Ida B. Wells Drive to Randolph Street. Choose Chicago’s listing gives a 7:45am start, so get there early. Later in the day, the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza keeps short holiday hours, 11am to 4pm on Thanksgiving, per NBC Chicago’s report on the 2026 dates.

The suburban Simon malls and the outlets open earliest. Woodfield lists Black Friday hours of 6am to 9pm, then 8am to 9pm on Saturday, Nov. 28. Its regular Friday hours are 10am to 9pm, so Black Friday adds four hours at the front of the day. Parking is free across more than 10,000 surface spaces around six entrances. If you’re only picking up an order, the 30-minute express spaces in lots N, K and C are quicker than circling. There is no CTA service. Pace buses stop at Entrance 1 and at the Northwest Transportation Center just south of the mall.

The outlets keep the same early start. As of Nov. 1, Gurnee Mills (6170 W Grand Ave, Gurnee), Fashion Outlets of Chicago (5220 Fashion Outlets Way, Rosemont) and Chicago Premium Outlets (1650 Premium Outlet Blvd, Aurora) each listed 6am to 9pm on Black Friday. Fashion Outlets is the closest of the three to the city, next to O’Hare in Rosemont.

On the Magnificent Mile, Water Tower Place (835 N Michigan Ave) listed 9am to 8pm for Black Friday as of Nov. 1. Oakbrook Center (100 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook) and 900 North Michigan Shops (900 N Michigan Ave) hadn’t posted Black Friday hours then, and we couldn’t confirm any since. Our mall holiday hours guide has the full table through New Year’s Day and gets re-checked weekly.

Mall hours aren’t store hours. Department stores and big anchors often open on their own schedule, and some smaller shops inside a mall open later than the doors do. If one store is the reason for the trip, check that store’s own page.

Yahoo Shopping’s Nov. 2 roundup gives these Black Friday hours, and notes they vary by location: Kohl’s 5am to midnight; Target 6am to 10 or 11pm; Walmart 6am to 11pm; Best Buy 6am to 10pm; Macy’s 6am to 10pm; Home Depot 6am to 9 or 10pm; Apple 8 or 9am to 9 or 10pm; and Costco 9am for Executive members, 10am for everyone else, to 8:30pm. Treat these as the chain’s plan, and check your store’s page for its own hours.

If one item is the reason for the trip, check whether your store offers order-ahead pickup before you join a 6am line.

State Street is the city’s best Black Friday walk if you want department stores and decorations more than doorbusters. Macy’s on State Street (111 N State St) fills the old Marshall Field’s building. Its store page lists regular hours of 10am to 9pm Monday to Saturday, and no holiday hours yet. Yahoo’s chain-wide figure is 6am to 10pm, so check the State Street page before an early trip. On the 7th floor, Macy’s runs Holiday Square, its French-style holiday market, Thursdays to Sundays from Nov. 20 to Dec. 24, 10am to 6:30pm, so it’s open on Black Friday. Macy’s has set the Great Tree Lighting in the Walnut Room for Nov. 7. Our State Street windows and Walnut Room guide covers the tree, the windows and reservations.

At Madison Street, Target State Street (1 S State St) is the full-size Target in Louis Sullivan’s Sullivan Center. Most of the street between them is chain stores, including Primark, Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx and Gap Factory.

Take the Red Line: it runs in the subway right under State Street, with stops at Lake (by Macy’s) and Monroe. There is no Red Line stop at Washington. The elevated State/Lake station closed in January 2026 for rebuilding, so the elevated Loop lines serve the street from Washington/Wabash and Adams/Wabash, a block east.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is when the neighborhood strips do their best business. The Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber’s 2026 page lists Small Business Saturday for Nov. 28, and its 2026 events are free. Santa takes pictures with kids from 10am to noon at The Perfect Cup (4700 N Damen Ave). Pets get their turn from 1 to 3pm at Urban Pooch Canine Life Center (4501 N Ravenswood Ave). Victorian carolers sing 30-minute sets at the top of each hour from 11am to 4:30pm in Giddings Plaza (4731 N Lincoln Ave). The day ends there with the tree lighting: Santa arrives at 4:45pm, the pre-show starts at 5pm and the lights go on at 5:30pm. The chamber says shop deals for 2026 will be added later.

The shops are all within a few blocks of the plaza. Timeless Toys (4749 N Lincoln Ave) has been selling wooden and educational toys, games and puzzles since 1993. The Book Cellar (4736-38 N Lincoln Ave) is a bookstore with a cafe that serves wine and beer. It’s open 10am to 6pm on Saturdays. The Brown Line’s Western stop is a block from Lincoln Avenue. More shops are in our Lincoln Square page.

In Andersonville, the chamber held its 16th Small Business Saturday last year. It hadn’t posted 2026 plans when we checked. The Clark Street shops are worth the trip either way. Andersonville Galleria (5247 N Clark St) puts more than 200 local artists and makers under one roof and opens at 11am on Saturdays. Our Chicago gifts guide lists what to buy on both strips.