Showing posts with label what is this. Show all posts
Showing posts with label what is this. Show all posts

Monday, December 5, 2011

What is Black Friday

Black Friday is an important day in the US shopping calendar.

It marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and takes place the day after Thanksgiving in November.

For those not familiar with US traditions, Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday in November and traces its origins back to a 1621 celebration held in Plymouth Massachusetts by the early settlers to give thanks to God.

Today Thanksgiving is a family celebration and legal state holiday that marks the start of a long weekend off for most people. And after the family turkey feast on Thursday, the following day is available for people to go Christmas shopping on what has become the busiest shopping day of the year.

Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, Black Friday occurs somewhere between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

Black Friday is so called because it marks the day when retailers make a profit - that is get out of the red and into the black. There is also a sense for shop workers that it is black because it can be such a long hard working day, as well as the mad crowds and general congestion of the streets and shopping malls.
 
Crucially important, Black Friday shopping performance can set the trend for either profit or loss. It is watched carefully by retailers and economic commentators alike because it is widely believed to set the economic tone for the year to come.



To give customers greater incentive to spend, most shops offer Black Friday sales and there are some fantastic cut-price bargains to be had.

In recent years, shop doors have been opening ever more early in order to be the first with the sales. Some retailers open at midnight of Thanksgiving and recently even at 10pm on the night of Thanksgiving itself in the race to be first.

This move that has not been welcome by some consumer groups and retail staff.

Despite the economic downturn, or possibly because of it - many shoppers are taking more and more desperate measures in order to nail a bargain.

The idea of Black Friday has now made its way out of the US as on line retailers such as Apple and Amazon offer on line sales.





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