Black Friday
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| Black Friday Shopping | |
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 Day after Thanksgiving shopping at Walmart in 2009 |
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, many retailers open very early to offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but many employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,[1] although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,[2] have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.[3]
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Origins of the term Black Friday
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term began by 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. However, retailers have long called the day "Black Friday" to convey the idea that in the retailing field, the entire year's financial performance can hinge on how successful the store is during the all-important "holiday selling season." For industry insiders, the term refers to the day in which the retailer goes from being "in the red" (as in, "red ink" or loses) into the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or "in the black."[4] The inside, industry term "Black Friday" was picked up by media covering the retail industry, and then gained usage in the general media. At first, retailers attempted to fight the negative connotation of the term and continued to use the term "After Thanksgiving Sales." In the late 2000s, however, companies like Target embraced the term and started developing advertising campaigns around the "Black Friday" theme.
History
That the day after Thanksgiving is the "official" start of the holiday shopping season may be linked together with the idea of Santa Claus parades. Parades celebrating Thanksgiving often include an appearance by Santa at the end of the parade, with the idea that 'Santa has arrived' or 'Santa is just around the corner'.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, many Santa parades or Thanksgiving Day parades were sponsored by department stores. Department stores would use the parades to launch a big advertising push. Eventually it just became an unwritten rule that no store would try doing Christmas advertising before the parade was over. Therefore, the day after Thanksgiving became the day when the shopping season officially started.
Later on, the fact that this marked the official start of the shopping season led to controversy. In 1939, retail shops would have liked to have a longer shopping season, but no store wanted to break with tradition and be the one to start advertising before Thanksgiving. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date for Thanksgiving one week earlier, leading to much anger by the public who wound up having to change holiday plans.[5] Some even refused the change, resulting in the U.S. citizens celebrating Thanksgiving on two separate days.[5]
Small Business Saturday
In 2010, as a response to the heavy emphasis given by the news media to the Black Friday shopping that takes place at large, national retailers, Small Business Saturday was created by American Express and others to promote the importance of small retailers in a local economy, and to encourage Christmas gift shoppers to support such small businesses.
See also
References
- ↑ International Council of Shopping Centers. "Holiday Watch: Media Guide 2006 Holiday Facts and Figure" (PDF). http://holiday.icsc.org/2006/hw06_fullguide.pdf.; ShopperTrak, Press Release, ShopperTrak Reports Positive Response to Early Holiday Promotions Boosts Projections for 2010 Holiday Season (Nov. 16, 2010).
- ↑ International Council of Shopping Centers. "Daily Sales Comparison Top Ten Holiday Shopping Days (1996 - 2001)" (PDF). http://www.icsc.org/TopTen02.pdf..
- ↑ E.g., Albert R. Karr, "Downtown Firms Aid Transit Systems To Promote Sales and Build Good Will," Wall St. J., p. 6 (Nov. 26, 1982); Associated Press, "Holiday Shoppers Jam U.S. Stores," N.Y. Times, p. 30 (Nov. 28, 1981).
- ↑ Kevin Drum (November 26, 2010). "Black Friday". http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/11/black-friday..
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Congress Establishes Thanksgiving". http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving/. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
