American retailers are still trying to transform Thanksgiving into a shopping holiday

Starting Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day might not actually make much financial sense, but a handful of retailers are still clinging on to hope that they can transform the holiday into a national shopping bonanza.

Sears announced Tuesday that it would be starting its Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, according to CNBC's Krystina Gustafson. Macy's and Toys R Us will open at 5 p.m. and Kohl's will open at 6 p.m. on the holiday.

In a statement to CNBC, Joelle Maher, Sears' president and chief member officer, said that the store has opened on Thanksgiving the past four years.

"We've closely monitored member response from prior years, considered shifts in member shopping behavior, the competitive landscape, and came up with the best plan to serve them and address the needs of the business," Maher said.

In recent years, retailers have begun kicking off Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving in an effort to get as much money out of shoppers as possible during the holiday shopping season. But the movement has largely backfired.

Opening on Thanksgiving has diminished the allure of shopping on Black Friday, which has long been considered the biggest shopping day of the year in the US.

RetailNext, a firm that tracks retail shopper traffic, expects that Black Friday will lose that distinction this year. The firm predicts that the biggest shopping day of the year will be Friday, December 23.

"Black Friday historically has been such a great shopping day," Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of the mall operator CBL, told CNBC. "It's lost its luster because we've diluted it."

CBL, which operates 89 regional malls and shopping centers, is closing 73 of its locations on Thanksgiving and not opening until 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

There's also mounting pressure on retailers to let employees spend the holiday at home with their families.

The Mall of America will be closed on Thanksgiving this year for the first time in five years.

"We think Thanksgiving is a day for families and for people we care about," Jill Renslow, the mall's senior vice president of marketing, told The Associated Press. "We want to give this day back."

A number of other retailers, including Costco, REI, IKEA, and Nordstrom will stay closed on Thanksgiving Day this year.

According to Moody's analyst Charles O'Shea, opening on Thanksgiving doesn't always make financial sense.

"We doubt that the majority of specialty retailers benefit from involvement in this annual Thanksgiving opening arms race," O'Shea wrote in a research note in October.

Sears has been in trouble for some time as sales continue to fall. In September, Moody's analysts downgraded Sears' liquidity rating, saying the company was bleeding cash.

- Hayley Peterson and Kate Taylor contributed reporting