Retailers that close on Thanksgiving lose out, says location data

Recently, stores have made a point of keeping their doors shut on Thanksgiving–and even Black Friday–to encourage their employees and customers to spend time with their families. But taking the moral high ground comes at a cost, according to Foursquare, which gathers location data of about 50 million monthly global users of its apps and mines it for ad-targeting and other business insights.

Foursquare compared shopping patterns in states where there are so-called “blue laws” against department stores opening on Thanksgiving Day–Massachusetts and Rhode Island–to states that are allowed to open on Thanksgiving. . . . more