"Black" Friday

[anna_66]

I always work all day. But I wouldn't get up and go out at 4 am for it even if I didn't

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've never done it and I never will. I hate to shop for most things on a normal day any way. The only BF I would ever do is to shop online. I think some are starting theirs on Thursday.

[sana]

My cousins in America are going to the Black Friday place, as I have heard and we've told them to get some stuff for us. I think we're getting a laptop and a kindle. Not sure.

[pomtzu]

My cousins in America are going to the Black Friday place, as I have heard and we've told them to get some stuff for us. I think we're getting a laptop and a kindle. Not sure.

LOL
Sana - Black Friday isn't a place - it's a term given to the first "official" shopping day of the Christmas/holiday season - and is always the day after Thanksgiving - today - Friday.

The term "black" comes from the concept that the stores will operate in the "black" - meaning that they will actually make money. When they operate in the "red", that means they aren't seeing any profits and claim that they aren't making money thru out the year. So stores have super sales on everything, with the hopes that it will bring lots and lots of people to their stores, and that they will be "in the black" - making lots of money on the products that they sell.

And with these super sales, people tend to go kind of crazy and wait in lines for hours to get in the store and get all kinds of products at super low prices. It's really crazy, but if you like the mob scene and don't mind driving around forever to find a parking place for your car in the mall, then I guess it's not bad. Not my idea of fun tho. Electronics and toys are a BIG attraction that draws people out on this crazy shopping day.

[caseysmom]

I always thought the term black friday came from the shopping madness...I think nobody is really sure of the origin of that term.

[pomtzu]

I always thought the term black friday came from the shopping madness...I think nobody is really sure of the origin of that term.

It's actually both. It originally started out meaning the massive traffic and mobs associated with it, but then became a profit or loss issue in later years. And wouldn't you know - it all boils down to the almighty dollar.

[rosethecopycat]

LOL
Sana - Black Friday isn't a place - it's a term given to the first "official" shopping day of the Christmas/holiday season - and is always the day after Thanksgiving - today - Friday.

The term "black" comes from the concept that the stores will operate in the "black" - meaning that they will actually make money. When they operate in the "red", that means they aren't seeing any profits and claim that they aren't making money thru out the year. So stores have super sales on everything, with the hopes that it will bring lots and lots of people to their stores, and that they will be "in the black" - making lots of money on the products that they sell.

And with these super sales, people tend to go kind of crazy and wait in lines for hours to get in the store and get all kinds of products at super low prices. It's really crazy, but if you like the mob scene and don't mind driving around forever to find a parking place for your car in the mall, then I guess it's not bad. Not my idea of fun tho. Electronics and toys are a BIG attraction that draws people out on this crazy shopping day.

Can you imagine children, say 100 years from now, asking about the origins of Black Friday?

Well kids, it all started when the drive to purchase merchandise and small gadgetry peaked in the early 21st century. It's origins are from the celebrations right after the former Thanksgiving Holiday, when people thought we still don't have enough to be thankful for. Small groups of folks camped out in front of stores, to have a chance at the 'latest, greatest' products when hysteria slowly set in. Eventually the stores never closed. Thanksgiving became another work day and lost popularity. The merchandizers knew, when to hold out items and always dangled new products before the peasantry. That's how we got our Pod commercials for the Springtime promotional drive, that everyone loves so much, and how we got products like the NEW Im1PmegKind-L42-aPodversion2127G(slim).
Eventually everyone succumbed to the mind numbing lure of the Black Friday Holiday and that's how we got Tent Villages, the ALF (Anti-Looting Force) and the CRF (Civil Redirection Force for crowd control) And that's how we came to celebrate our beloved Black Friday, the second week of June.

[Karen]

The term "black" Friday doesn't have to do do with the crowds or the traffic. It is the beginning of the retail "Christmas" season, where stores make the most profit, so it put them "in the black" (making money) instead of "in the red" - losing money.

[pomtzu]

The term "black" Friday doesn't have to do do with the crowds or the traffic. It is the beginning of the retail "Christmas" season, where stores make the most profit, so it put them "in the black" (making money) instead of "in the red" - losing money.

It is both, Karen, and originally it was in reference to the heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic on that day - the start of the holiday shopping season. It originated in Philadelphia in the 60's and spread, and eventually took on it's other meaning of the profit/loss scenario.

[Karen]

It is both, Karen, and originally it was in reference to the heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic on that day - the start of the holiday shopping season. It originated in Philadelphia in the 60's and spread, and eventually took on it's other meaning of the profit/loss scenario.

I heard a story today on NPR - Black Friday was a term in the 1950s - when factory managers called it "black friday" because so many people called in "sick" that day, they compared it to the "black death" - a.k.a. the bubonic plague. Then in the 1960s, it was adopted by the Philadelphia police as you mentioned, the 1970s it became the financial meaning I mentioned, and in the 1980s it transformed into the shopping event it is now, and was adopted by retailers as a positive connotation and name for sales.

So we were both wrong as to how it originated, and both right in a way, we just didn't know about the first usage!

[sana]

LOL
Sana - Black Friday isn't a place - it's a term given to the first "official" shopping day of the Christmas/holiday season - and is always the day after Thanksgiving - today - Friday.

The term "black" comes from the concept that the stores will operate in the "black" - meaning that they will actually make money. When they operate in the "red", that means they aren't seeing any profits and claim that they aren't making money thru out the year. So stores have super sales on everything, with the hopes that it will bring lots and lots of people to their stores, and that they will be "in the black" - making lots of money on the products that they sell.

And with these super sales, people tend to go kind of crazy and wait in lines for hours to get in the store and get all kinds of products at super low prices. It's really crazy, but if you like the mob scene and don't mind driving around forever to find a parking place for your car in the mall, then I guess it's not bad. Not my idea of fun tho. Electronics and toys are a BIG attraction that draws people out on this crazy shopping day.

Haha! Thank You for letting me know I was confused earlier when i was posting about where the Black Friday actually takes place and so, I just said "Black Friday place"