• Best Buy said it will keep stores closed Thanksgiving Day and offer many of its hottest Black Friday deals online for the second year in a row.
• The company is joining Walmart and Target in shutting stores for the national holiday.
• The coronavirus pandemic changed customers' shopping preferences and moved more of retailers' holiday deals online.

Best Buy said it will keep stores closed on Thanksgiving Day and offer many of its Black Friday deals online for the second year in a row.

The company joins a growing list of retailers that have already begun to announce plans for the holiday season. Target and Walmart also said they will be closed on Thanksgiving Day for the second year in a row.

The Friday after Thanksgiving has long been the kickoff to holiday shopping, but in recent years many retailers pushed that up earlier and used deep discounts to draw customers to stores on Thanksgiving Day after they finished their turkey dinners.

Last year, however, the coronavirus pandemic changed consumers' shopping patterns as they sought out more contactless options, such as shopping online or using curbside pickup. Retailers offered more doorbuster deals on their websites to reduce store crowds and appeal to shoppers' preferences.

Best Buy, in particular, is known for its wide selection of popular Black Friday items, such as flat-screen TVs, tablets, smartphones and other consumer electronics.

In a company statement Tuesday, Best Buy did not share its store hours or plans for Black Friday, but said it was able to serve millions of customers last year during Black Friday weekend through curbside pickup and shipping packages to homes.

"This year, we'll have even more ways for customers to easily and conveniently get their holiday shopping done, over the Black Friday weekend and throughout the entire holiday season," it said.