Will Walmart and Meijer Ever Be Open 24/7 Again?

The other night, the topic of overnight shopping came up. Until then, I had forgotten that, at one time, both Walmarts, Meijer, Walgreens, and two of the three Kroger stores were all open 24/7. Seriously, you could've gone on a shopping spree at 2 AM back in the day if you wanted to. Of course, COVID-19 changed all that.

Meijer and Walmart Hours

Before the pandemic, Kroger had already scaled back to closing at 1 AM. But that got scaled back even farther to 10 PM once the pandemic hit. Walmart and Meijer followed suit by also locking it up at 10. (Meijer has since returned to closing at midnight.) As someone who used to be a regular late-night shopper, I didn't like it initially. For one thing, there much fewer people in the store in the wee hours, something that was attractive during the era of masks and social distancing.

But I adjusted pretty quickly, and now, I don't mind. Well...not as much, let's say. There are times when I might wake up in the middle of the night and realize I'm out of, say, ibuprofen. Fearing an inability to doze back off because of a headache, I'd like to be able to pick some up at a store that won't charge me what convenience stores likely would.

Will Meijer and Walmart Return to Being Open 24/7?

And that's when I miss "open all night" the most. I don't need or want to do my main grocery shopping at 2:30 in the morning anymore, but emergencies (and headaches) do happen. However, my concerns aren't as great as others, and I'm speaking of folks who don't get off work until midnight or later. Like "D.T.J." on X, for example...

And then I found this Reddit discussion on the matter. It's a real "point/counterpoint" conversation.

Is Meijer ever going back to 24 hours? Shopping after work was the best.
byu/ZildjianCymbals inmeijer

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Chances are likely very good that neither Meijer nor Walmart will ever return to being open all night. In fact, while we were busy reading comments from customers, there was a Walmart employee who responded to a hope that the retail giant would return to overnight hours, and she responded in no uncertain terms.

Theresia Bruce - As a night shift Walmart employee..shhhhhhhhut it! We have so much to do and we're on a timer.. I hope every other establishment opens back up for you guys.. but let's leave Walmart alone.. they're gonna make me take my ear buds out.

Well, I guess that settles it.