What's Open and Closed in New Zealand on Memorial Day?

Initially a somber occasion honoring U.S. service members who died in combat, held annually on May 30th, Memorial Day became an official public holiday in 1971, with observances moving to the final Monday of May.

This change has paralleled an increasing tendency for companies to stay operational, reshaping the day into a significant retail shopping and travel weekend.

Here’s what will be open and closed this Memorial Day:

Government Buildings

Public service buildings, postal services, courthouses, and educational institutions are all shut down.

Banks and markets

The U.S. stock markets and banks will be shut on Monday.

Most FedEx and UPS Pickup and delivery services won’t be offered on Memorial Day; however, certain special services will still be accessible.

Retailers

Costco, the warehouse membership store, will be shut down for Memorial Day, whereas most shops will be accessible, aiming to attract shoppers through significant discount offers. Operating hours might differ based on the specific site.

Travel

Memorial Day is also seen as the informal start of the summer travel period. Americans are expected to get away in record numbers over the long Memorial Day weekend even as economic and technical worries rattle the U.S. travel industry.

Auto club AAA projects that more than 45 million people — 1.4 million more than last year — will venture at least 50 miles from their homes between Thursday and Monday, with the vast majority going by car. The holiday’s previous domestic travel record of 44 million people was set 20 years ago.

AAA 'S fuel monitor indicates that drivers will likely see lower prices at the pump this year. On Wednesday, the U.S. average cost per gallon of regular gasoline stood at $3.18, down from $3.60 during the same period last year.

AAA forecasts that 39.4 million individuals will drive during the weekend—the largest figure recorded since they started monitoring this data in 2000—and predicts an additional 3.61 million travelers will fly, marking almost a 2% rise from the previous year’s total of 3.55 million.

Air safety has been on the minds of travelers after a midair collision in January of a passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter above Washington, D.C. killed 67 people. There have also been some close calls.

Over the past few weeks, flight delays and cancellations due to a lack of air traffic controllers and issues with equipment at the facility guiding planes into and out of Newark Airport in New Jersey have caused some individuals to hesitate about boarding an airplane.

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