Labor Day takes place on the first Monday of September every year in the US and honours the American worker.
While many associate the occasion with the end of summer and an opportunity for parades, parties, picnics, barbecues and shopping sprees, the day was inaugurated in the late 19th century out of respect for organised labour and the rights of the individual.
The US Department of Labor describes the holiday, this year taking place on 6 September, as “a creation of the labour movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers”.
Federal offices are closed across the country and the US Postal Service delivers no mail.
“All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race or nation” Samuel Gompers, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, once explained.
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The first Labor Day was held on 5 September 1882 in New York City at the instigation of the Central Labor Union with a street parade held in Union Square. Other cities followed suit and Oregon became the first state to make it an official holiday in 1887.
By 1894, 34 states observed the date, prompting the president, Grover Cleveland, to sign a bill into law that June making it an official national holiday.
That decision coincided with one of the darkest episodes in the history of American industrial relations, the Pullman Strike, which saw 4,000 American Railway Union workers on Chicago’s South Side, led by Eugene V Debs, engage in a series of wildcat strikes between 11 May and 20 July 1894, protesting the poor working conditions and low wages offered by the railroad car manufacturer.
The company stood firm and refused to recognise the demonstrations, resulting in rioting in which 37 people were killed, 57 injured and $80m of damage caused before the US Army could restore order.
Labor Day thus played an important role in stabilising, resetting and advancing America’s relationship with its working men and women in the aftermath of that tragedy.
In 2021, the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus is continuing to cause havoc and leading to staffing shortages at many American businesses, adding a complicating factor to the question of which ones remain open.
“Unlike Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, most major retailers and grocery stores will be open on Labor Day,” explains USA Today. “National restaurant chains, including Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ and Chili’s, are open and on-demand services such as Postmates, Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash will deliver orders on Monday for participating local and national restaurants.”
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Among those definitely closed are Costco and Tijuana Flats but here’s a comprehensive list of stores and restaurants that are open, although readers are advised to check with their nearest branch to make sure and for that venue’s exact holiday opening hours.
7Eleven Academy Sports + Outdoors Acme Albertons Aldi Apple Applebee’s Arby’s Barnes & Noble Baskin-Robbins Bass Pro Shops Bed Bath & Beyond Belk Benihana Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta Best Buy Big Lots Big Y BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse BJ’s Wholesale Club Blaze Pizza Bob Evans Bojangles Bonefish Grill Boston Market Bravo Supermarkets Buca di Beppo Buffalo Wild Wings Burger King Burlington buybuy Baby Cabela’s California Pizza Kitchen Capital Grille Captain D’s Carl’s Jr Carrabba’s Casey’s General Stores Checkers Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Cheesecake Factory Chili’s Chipotle Mexican Grill Chuck E Cheese Church’s Chicken Circle K City Market Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Conn's HomePlus The Container Store Copps Cotton Patch Cafe Cracker Barrel Cubs Foods Cumberland Farms CVS D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches Dairy Queen Del Taco Denny’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Dillard’s Dollar General Dollar Tree Domino’s Pizza Dunkin’ Einstein Bros. Bagels El Pollo Loco Family Dollar Famous Dave’s Firehouse Subs First Watch Five Below Fleming’s Fogo de Chao Food Lion Fred Meyer Freebirds World Burrito Fresh Market Fry’s Food Stores GameStop Giant Golden Chick Golden Corral Hardee’s Harris Teeter Harveys Supermarket H-E-B Hobby Lobby Home Depot HomeGoods Hooters Hy-Vee IHOP Ikea Ingles Instacart Jack in the Box Jamba JCPenney Joann Stores Jimmy John’s KFC King Soopers Kirkland’s Kohl's Kroger Kung Fu Tea Krispy Kreme Little Caesars Logan’s Roadhouse LongHorn Steakhouse Long John Silver’s Love’s Travel Stops Lowe’s Lucky Supermarkets Macaroni Grill Macy’s Maggiano’s Little Italy MAPCO Marshalls Maverik - Adventure’s First Stop McDonald’s Meijer Menards Metro Diner Michaels Miller’s Ale House Morton’s The Steakhouse Mountain Mike’s Pizza Natural Grocers Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub Noodles & Company Nordstrom Nordstrom Rack O’Charley’s Office Depot and OfficeMax Old Navy Olive Garden On the Border Outback Steakhouse Panda Express Panera Bread Party City Papa Gino’s Papa John’s Pizza PDQ PF Chang’s Pilot Flying J Pizza Hut Pollo Campero Pollo Tropical Portillo’s Popeyes Publix Qdoba Mexican Eats Quiznos RaceTrac Rally’s Ralphs Red Robin Rite Aid Ross Rubio’s Coastal Grill Ruby Tuesday Rue21 Ruth’s Chris Safeway Sam’s Club Save A Lot Shake Shack Shipt Shoney’s ShopRite Smart & Final Sonic Drive-In Sonny’s BBQ Sprouts Farmers Market Staples Starbucks Steak ‘n Shake Stop & Shop Subway Taco Bell Taco John’s Target TGI Fridays Tim Hortons TJ Maxx Torchy’s Tacos Tractor Supply Co. Trader Joe’s TravelCenters of America Ulta Waffle House Walgreens Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux Walmart Wawa Wegmans Wendy’s White Castle Whole Foods Market Winn-Dixie Yogurtland