Your 2026 Memorial Day Sale Guide: What to Buy, Where to Shop

Memorial Day weekend is a smart time to shop, thanks to all the Memorial Day sales going on. In fact, pretty much every major retailer will be throwing a sale over the long holiday weekend, including Amazon, Lowe's, and Home Depot.

But just because it seems like practically everything is on sale, that doesn't mean everything is a must-buy. Read on for your 2026 Memorial Day guide, including the best stores to shop (and what to wait on buying until later in the year).

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The Best Memorial Day Sales to Shop

Memorial Day sales are already kicking off. While they all run through the holiday (or even a little later), you'll want to grab high-demand items as soon as you can.

Target

• Dates: May 17 - 25

• What to buy: Summer and party essentials — think swimwear, pool toys, apparel, ground beef, sodas, yard toys, and more. We're also seeing 32% off Owala water bottles and 50% off patio furniture and decor.

• Shopping Tip: Target will drop even more deals on May 22 with its new weekly ad, so check for additional savings.

Home Depot

• Dates: May 14 - 27

• What to Buy: Gardening supplies ($2.50 mulch and $2 soil), up to 72% off Bonnie plants, a $99 Weber grill, $6.48 veggies and herbs (lowest price of the year).

• Shopping Tip: This is the last time this year we expect to see $2 soil, and it's the best price of the season. So if you need to stock up, that's the deal to grab first.

Lowe's

• Dates: May 14 - 27

• What to Buy: $2 soil, $2 mulch, 17% off a Blackstone Griddle, $15 hanging baskets when you buy two.

• Shopping Tip: Lowe's beats Home Depot's price on the mulch, so head here to stockpile it. This is the last time this year we expect to see $2 mulch bags.

Macy's

• Dates: May 19 - 25

• What to Buy: Comforter sets for up to 60% off, clothing for 30% - 60% off, sandals for 30% - 50% off.

• Shopping Tip: Check back over the weekend. Sometimes Macy's adds an extra promo code for clearance items. Clearance probably won't include summer items, but it can be a good chance to buy ahead for next year.

Amazon

• Dates: May 15 - 25

• What to Buy: Household products, snacks, patio furniture and decor, grills, outdoor lighting.

• Shopping Tip: For stock-up-worthy items (like household goods and snacks), opt in to Subscribe & Save to get 5% - 15% off. You can always cancel future shipments. Plus, look for Amazon coupons to save even more.

The Best Memorial Day Clothing Sales

We put Memorial Day clothing sales in their own category. With so many stores running deals at exactly the same time, it's a smart time to buy spring clearance, as well as clothing you need for this summer.

Kate Spade Outlet

• Dates: May 20 - 25

• What to Buy: Purses, wallets, clothing, accessories.

• Shopping Tip: There are three discounts going on right now: 70% off select items, an extra 20% off, and 10% off your whole purchase. No promo codes needed. These all come off at checkout.

Nordstrom Rack

• Dates: May 21 - 25

• What to Buy: Clearance clothing

• Shopping Tip: In stores, look for the red balloons. The items on those racks and shelves will be an extra 25% off.

Kohl's

• Dates: May 21 - 25

• What to Buy: Clothes for the whole family

• Shopping Tip: The Kohl's Memorial Day sale gives you $10 off a purchase of $25, plus you'll earn $5 in Kohl's Cash for every $25 you spend. This makes it simple to pick up whatever clothing is on your shopping list and save.

What to Wait to Buy

Of course, if your TV is on the fritz or you need new patio furniture or a kiddie pool for this summer, Memorial Day weekend is still a smart time to shop and find things on sale. We're just giving you some food for thought on what to wait on.

For tech and TVs, wait for Prime Day or Black Friday.

You'll see TVs and home tech (like smart home gadgets and security cams) on sale for Memorial Day at stores like Best Buy. But if your laptop or TV will last you just a little longer, we've seen them cheaper during Prime Day, back-to-school season, and (if you can wait even longer) Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are sweet spots for tech.

Wait until back-to-school season or Black Friday to buy laptops.

Another form of tech it's smart to wait on is laptops. For example, Best Buy has HP Chromebooks on sale for $179 for Memorial Day, but we saw them go down to $99 - $129 during the previous holiday shopping season. Can't wait that long? Dell and HP usually throw back-to-school sales, and Apple does back-to-school offers every year (including gift cards worth up to $150 when you buy an Apple laptop).

If you REALLY need a new laptop, consider buying refurbished now to save money.

Start looking for end-of-season clearance on summer clothing around mid-July.

Mid-July is when retailers start making space for fall. So that's when you'll notice clearance racks full of shorts, T-shirts, and summer dresses.

Memorial Day sales at stores like Target will, of course, offer clothing savings, so it can be a smart time to shop for essentials you need this summer. But the markdowns near the end of the season will drop prices even more on what's left (think up to 70% off).

Patio furniture and grills will get marked down after July 4.

Yes, patio furniture and grills are Memorial Day staples. But they'll also get marked down for clearance after Independence Day, making that a smarter time to buy.

For example, right now, we're seeing Adirondack chairs (a patio staple) for between $89 and $113 across retailers' Memorial Day sales (Target, Walmart, etc.) That's a 30% - 50% discount, which isn't bad. But during last year's summer clearance sales in July and August, we saw the same chairs priced between $49 and $67 at those same retailers.

As for grills, right now Memorial Day sales from the major players have grills and griddles for 20% - 30% off. Last year during July 4 and end-of-summer sales, we found grills and griddles for 36% - 53% off at the same stores. The selection may not be as big, though.

You May Also Be Interested In:

• What to Shop During Macy's Memorial Day Sale

• REI's Anniversary Sale Gives Members and Extra 30% Off

• The Best Deals From Walmart's Memorial Day Sale