Are You Hitting the Stores for Black Friday This Year?
How this holiday shopping frenzy came to be — and how it will be different this year.
The Christmas shopping juggernaut is upon us. It kicks off with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and the day that is officially considered the first day of the Christmas season in the U.S.
How did we start using “Black Friday” term to describe the biggest shopping day of the year?
The term “Black Friday” initially was coined to mark the devastating stock market crash in 1929.
It became associated with the day after Thanksgiving in the 1950s, where the police department in Philadelphia started using the term to describe the chaos of Christmas shopping. The combination of crazy crowds, brazen shoplifters, pickpockets, and the requirement to work on the day after Thanksgiving was a dark day for those in law enforcement.
In the late 1980s, retailers increasingly used the term “Black Friday” as a way to note that stores who typically operated at a loss the rest of the year started to turn a year end profit with the holiday shopping season. Essentially, Black Friday was the day that stores went from operating “in the red” to “in the black”.
For shoppers, Black Friday became synonymous with the best shopping deals of the year.
Over the last twenty years Black Friday has spawned an entire four-day shopping weekend extravaganza that now includes Black Friday, Small Business Saturday & Sunday, and Cyber Monday.
Why do people love to shop on Black Friday?
Black Friday sales often include “loss leaders” which is a retail term for offering a product at a sharply reduced price in order to entice customers into the store where they will presumably buy other items at a higher profit. Come for the $100 television, stay for the game box, wireless headphones and wireless doorbell.
The frenzy of these large sales has been problematic and, at times, even deadly. Every year we see videos of people rushing into stores, frantically shopping, and occasionally trampling someone. We may laugh and shake our heads at those crazy people who want a deal so bad they’re willing to knock people over to get it. The schadenfreude of watching people battle for sales is also rooted in racism and classism.
While many people participate in Black Friday for the sport of it, there are many people for whom fighting for Black Friday deals are the only way they’re going to be able to afford the items they want.
What will Black Friday be like this year?
It will be interesting to see how different Black Friday is this year, especially with so many of us under pandemic restrictions. This shopping year has been more “in the red” for many stores, particularly those that don’t offer online sales, and no doubt retailers will be even more desperate to bring people in. The challenge will be, how?
If stores are limited to 50% occupancy, for example, how do they handle the frantic rush for sales and keep moving people through quickly? How do people keep safe in Black Friday lines? And how many people will stay home because it simply feels too dangerous to be in a crowd?
It all remains to be seen.
As you plan your holiday shopping, remember that small businesses have been hit particularly hard this year. Try to support the small stores in your community, or support small businesses on Etsy or Go Imagine.
If you must participate in Black Friday, remember these tips to stay safe:
- Avoid the opening crush when the stores first open and the crowds are largest
- Visit shops you access from the outside instead of an indoor mall
- Wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth
- Bring hand sanitizer and use it frequently
- Pay attention to your surroundings so you can stay 6 feet away from others
- Wipe down your purchases with disinfectant when you get home
Or better yet, stay home and relax with holiday movie and tap into your creative side. Make a commitment to giving handmade gifts this year, they will mean more than any Black Friday deal.
Happy Thanksgiving!
