**Related Video Above: Catholic Charities prepares to serve 12,000 Thanksgiving meals.**

CLEVELAND (WJW) — For the fourth consecutive year, Walmart has chosen to close its doors for Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving is a special day, and we want our store associates to have the chance to spend it with their families and loved ones,” Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said in a video posted to social media Monday.

While the big box store is the first to announce official Thanksgiving closures, others like Target and Costco and Home Depot were also closed for the holiday last year as well.

In an interview with Today last year, Furner called being open on Thanksgiving “a thing of the past.”

FILE - The entrance to a Walmart store is shown on June 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh. Walmart reports earning on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The trend to shut down on the turkey-filled day started during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and has continued from there. Prior to that, Black Friday sale events had begun to creep into Thanksgiving day, taking away shoppers and employees alike from family meals.

Target CEO Brian Cornell said in 2021 the store will no longer be open on Thanksgiving.

“What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard,” Cornell said in a statement.