CHICAGO (CBS) — In a bid to boost holiday sales, McDonald’s is pressuring restaurants to open on Christmas Day, according to a published report.

According to an internal memo, written by McDonald’s USA Chief Operating Officer Jim Johannesen and obtained by Ad Age, “Our largest holiday opportunity as a system is Christmas Day.”

The Oak Brook-based fast food giant found that opening on Thanksgiving Day provided a huge boost in holiday season revenue.

“Our November results were driven, in part, by our Thanksgiving Day performance,” Johannesen wrote. “Thanks to proper planning and your great execution, we capitalized on the opportunity to be open while our customers were on the road — and those customers rewarded us.”

Last year, some company-owned stores were open on Christmas. McDonald’s wants to expand that to franchise stores across the county.

McDonald’s said those company-owned stores averaged about $5,500 in sales. While that may not sound like much, if thousands of stores were opened (McDonald’s has about 14,000 stores nationwide), that revenue would make a big difference in the bottom line.