Black Friday

[Bob_VT]

I mentioned this in another post and our Aussie friends were not aware of Black Friday.

Here is a good explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

My wife attacks Black Friday by mapping her route and making a schedule! I stay home. :tongue:

[BailOut]

For our family Black Friday does not exist. Instead that day is known as Buy Nothing Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day).

[TheRealEnth]

i think black friday is useless. They overstock their crap.. cause they know so many people will come, so probaly.... the saturday after.. its still there same price. and Also the savings aren't that great.... The only thing Black friday is good for... Is Laptops, those are the only things that are worth rushing for. They run out fast and good deals. Everything else is stupid.

[Bob_VT]

It is a something special day for alot of people....

There are specials for that day only that families have saved for.....

Laptops for some.......

and even NOTHING for some. :biggrin:

[SailDesign]

That day is for the annual TurkeyBurner mountain-bike ride. Nothing gets rid of turkey like a good shaking on the trails. Ride rigid - ride hard! Maybe I should re-word that.... Naah! :smile:

[PaidTimeOff]

It's gonna be a VERY special day for me. After having worked every single black friday in retail for the last 5 years or so, I'll be staying home and doing nothing on that hellish day.

17-hour day of work with no extra pay for those ridiculous hours? No, thank you. I could not be happier that the large retailer I was working for has just filed for Chapter 11 and has seen its stock value plummet to almost nothing. Karma's awesome.

[Bob_VT]

Chapter 11 just prolongs the agony........ wait for the Chapter 7 when they have to do a liquidation!

[harponi]

For our family Black Friday does not exist. Instead that day is known as Buy Nothing Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day).


I didn't know I was being a "social activist" (as quoted from wikipedia) when I avoided the shopping hell like the plague. :biggrin:

[SIPNGAS]

I just realized I don't work and the girls will be with their dad for BF. I could actually BE one of those people at the stores at 3 am...or not....I'll have to start hunting around to see what the deals are going to be.

[Bob_VT]

Just hit google with black friday!!

[SIPNGAS]

I plan to, tomorrow while at work!

lol

[PetersRedYaris]

Buy nothing day = a tradition of social activists protesting consumerism started by a Vancouver artist. :laugh: I am in no way defending Black Friday, but that just cracks me up. Activism = just another form of America's wastefulness...

[KCALB SIRAY]

It's gonna be a VERY special day for me. After having worked every single black friday in retail for the last 5 years or so, I'll be staying home and doing nothing on that hellish day.

17-hour day of work with no extra pay for those ridiculous hours? No, thank you. I could not be happier that the large retailer I was working for has just filed for Chapter 11 and has seen its stock value plummet to almost nothing. Karma's awesome.

I'm there with ya, 100%. After working 16 years retail in the past, mostly in a mall, I will be chillin with a few beers and the TV:drinking:

[Phaeton]

I have a feeling this Black Friday isn't going to put very many retailers into the black.
Besides it's all a gimmick to get you into the store. They only have 10 of any advertised item in the store when the sale starts. It's a way to limit profit loss on ad sales.

[Nigal]

Black Friday is the High Holy Days for my wife. I don't care for christmas. I drag the tree up from the basement for the wife and we exchange presents but that's it. The only reason I even do that much is because my wife simply can't let it go.

[floydisrock]

I prefer to shop on the internet.
The stores are now too big.
I hate making laps and drudging through all the womens garbage to find what I want.
No lines,no waiting,no fuel usage,no taxes and cheaper prices.
What's better than that?

[eii]

I only heard of black friday when I got my first job which was 3 years ago. Before then I had no idea of its existence, I guess it only becomes apparent when you finally gain a source of income. My friend had gotten a nice 22' lcd widescreen for 100 bucks at circuit city. So its worth going out sometimes I guess. Though I'll probably just be lurking newegg that night on my day off. I'm really hoping that some of the wheel sites will have some deal as I'm dying for a set of wheels+tires. Have they done black friday specials in the past?

[BailOut]

Buy nothing day = a tradition of social activists protesting consumerism started by a Vancouver artist. :laugh: I am in no way defending Black Friday, but that just cracks me up. Activism = just another form of America's wastefulness...

While I certainly do not believe that activism is a bad thing I also do not care for that description, either. It makes a simple socioeconomic stance sound like a gathering of post-hippie artists.

Oh, well. It is still Buy Nothing Day for us.

[BailOut]

I prefer to shop on the internet... no fuel usage
There is still a whole lot of fuel usage when you shop on the Internet. The resources to make the item you bought were likely shipped to China from 3rd world countries, and then the final product was shipped all the way from China to your country of residence.

Perhaps you were only speaking of your own fuel usage, but saying you do not use any is still inaccurate. The fuel may not come out of your tank but it certainly used by the planes, trains, big rigs and delivery trucks that bring things to your door, and you still pay for it as shipping costs.

[m911gt]

I'll be hanging out with family on that day, in Chicago. I don't get to see my family much at all due to school, so I'll spend that time wisely.

[floydisrock]

There is still a whole lot of fuel usage when you shop on the Internet. The resources to make the item you bought were likely shipped to China from 3rd world countries, and then the final product was shipped all the way from China to your country of residence.

Perhaps you were only speaking of your own fuel usage, but saying you do not use any is still inaccurate. The fuel may not come out of your tank but it certainly used by the planes, trains, big rigs and delivery trucks that bring things to your door, and you still pay for it as shipping costs.

Most items I buy get free shipping,others are quite reasonable.
What I save in sales tax usually doubles my expenditure for shipping.
A diesel train taking cargo across country would seem to use less fuel than all the commuters moving those same items.

[Bob_VT]

I prefer to shop on the internet.
The stores are now too big.
I hate making laps and drudging through all the womens garbage to find what I want.
No lines,no waiting,no fuel usage,no taxes and cheaper prices.
What's better than that?

Well the first Monday following Thanksgiving is known as Cyber Monday ..... traditionally the biggest internet shopping day of the year.

[Bob_VT]

There is still a whole lot of fuel usage when you shop on the Internet. The resources to make the item you bought were likely shipped to China from 3rd world countries, and then the final product was shipped all the way from China to your country of residence.

Perhaps you were only speaking of your own fuel usage, but saying you do not use any is still inaccurate. The fuel may not come out of your tank but it certainly used by the planes, trains, big rigs and delivery trucks that bring things to your door, and you still pay for it as shipping costs.

Brian ....... you are making it sound like ANY fuel use is no good. There is a certain amount of fuel that will be used regardless and I don't consider it a waste to purchase something that was shipped with a whole bunch of other things. The companies are doing their best to reduce shipping costs.

If you do not shop on Black Friday how do you save resources when you do shop for holidays?

[KCALB SIRAY]

Bob, that's gay

[Bob_VT]

Hey I waste gas...... I even expell gas...... Sorry Lover but I'm straight....... I really don't adhere to the old hippie ways!

[KCALB SIRAY]

bitch

[Bob_VT]

bitch

Bitch? Well........ I will walk across the street and get you 5 lbs of cow manure from the farm...... but in the interest of saving gas and not upsetting the hippies...... the manure will be stripped of its methane properties AND you have to WALK here to VT to pick it up for Christmas! (As per google it should take you 5 days and 23 hours non-stop) :biggrin:

[KCALB SIRAY]

Thanks, kisses

[m911gt]

wow, you guys are "special" aren't you? ;)

[KCALB SIRAY]

Bob's my woobie too

[m911gt]

whoa, that's...hot? lol, gross

[PaidTimeOff]

If you do not shop on Black Friday how do you save resources when you do shop for holidays?

Isn't it obvious? he walks around the neighborhood going through peoples' garbage and makes his presents out of that.

"What's that honey? You want a new phone for Christmas?"

*hands over styrofoam cups with string attached*

/envy

[Nigal]

There is still a whole lot of fuel usage when you shop on the Internet. The resources to make the item you bought were likely shipped to China from 3rd world countries, and then the final product was shipped all the way from China to your country of residence.

Perhaps you were only speaking of your own fuel usage, but saying you do not use any is still inaccurate. The fuel may not come out of your tank but it certainly used by the planes, trains, big rigs and delivery trucks that bring things to your door, and you still pay for it as shipping costs.

Awe come on bailout! Let's not get too preachy here. I bet he'd burn less fuel shopping than you did last summer in the mountains finding all those mountain lakes.

[TinyGiant]

i'll be working :(


but its at a pet store.. we dont have black friday deals.. we just get 1 million tire kickers who come in and make a mess

[BailOut]

Brian ....... you are making it sound like ANY fuel use is no good.
I never said that, Bob. I only said that the poster's statement that shopping online uses no fuel was inaccurate.

If you do not shop on Black Friday how do you save resources when you do shop for holidays?
Buy Nothing Day isn't so much about saving resources as it is an exercise in 2 things:

1) Thumbing our noses at the entirety of gluttonous consumerism which, by proxy, screws up all of the retail forecasting for the holiday season as it is based on Black Friday sales.

2) Having a personal epiphany that most of us do indeed actively spend money each day of the year, and that we simply do not need to. Going for 24 hours without actively spending a penny is something most of us have never done. Think about it... no Starbucks, no eating out, no online shopping, no retail shopping, no grocery shopping, no beer runs, etc... just for 24 hours. How hard can it be, right?


To expand on your second question, we do what we can to conserve resources throughout the holidays. From a mostly local and totally organic Thanksgiving to only spending a maximum of $50 on each other for Christmas, to getting each other and the children well-made and durable goods, combining shipping (the only thing we ship is the gifts for my children, who live with my first wife), reusing gift wrap and boxes, etc. As an example of the kinds of gifts we give each other here is what I received from my wife last year:

- Hand-crank flashlight so that I don't have to buy disposable batteries for my old Mag-Lite anymore

- Hand-crank radio with NOAA channels in addition to FM/AM, and a port for using the crank to charge cellular phones

- Dryer balls that are good for 500+ uses, negating the need for harmful fabric softener or dryer sheets

- A multi-blade sharpener so that I can keep things like knives and scissors sharp long past their expected service life. This has already saved one knife and 2 pair of scissors from the landfill.

- An autographed copy of a book that a local associate of mine wrote on permaculture gardening



Here's what I got her:

- 2 cute all-metal bookmarks so that she doesn't have to go through the short-lived paper ones from the library anymore

- A flower and leaf pressing kit which has already netted 3 beautiful additions to our wall decorations

- Some beautiful candles made locally from bees wax, and hand decorated by a lady I know

- A hand-made glass candle holder from a local artisan

- Some leather driving gloves so that she can be more comfortable in the mornings, as a reward for her agreeing to no longer perform a warm-up idle

- A small wooden bird feeder kit because she loves Hummingbirds, which came from a sustainable forestry project and included soy-based paints

- A gorgeous coffee/tea cup carved in granite from a local quarry



I already know what I'm getting her this year, too. I can share it here as she doesn't read these boards:

- A special kind of fruit jam that she loved as a child and has not seen since her family left South America when she was quite young. I found a local farmer's wife that produces it in small batches each year, and reserved 2 jars for her last Spring which I can pick up shortly after Thanksgiving.

- A glass tea set made by a local artisan, which I will combine with these totally neat hand-sewn "blossoming" tea flowers that a local lady creates and sells at the Fall craft fair on the Indian reservation.

- An ornate toe ring made by a local artisan from silver mined locally in Virginia City that she's had her eye on since Summer.


I have asked for a credit card and money clip that I spotted in Virginia City last Summer (at the same place she spotted that toe ring) which is also made by a local artisan from silver that was mined locally. This will come in handy as I don't use a wallet anymore due to it hurting my lower back and sciatic nerve, but keeping things in my front pocket causes the magnetic strip on things like credit cards and drivers licenses to quickly wear out and become unusable. It is priced at $49 so it will likely be the only thing I get this year, and I am fine with that as I don't need much.

[PetersRedYaris]

...Going for 24 hours without actively spending a penny is something most of us have never done. Think about it... no Starbucks, no eating out, no online shopping, no retail shopping, no grocery shopping, no beer runs, etc... just for 24 hours. How hard can it be, right? ...

I do it all the time, the tough part is not negating the "free" days by excessive spending inbetween them. Oh well, even the free days aren't really free. Everything costs money, even water... But I have doing great with not buying material things and selling or donating the things I don't use, it's quite liberating.

[KCALB SIRAY]

I do it all the time, the tough part is not negating the "free" days by excessive spending inbetween them. Oh well, even the free days aren't really free. Everything costs money, even water... But I have doing great with not buying material things and selling or donating the things I don't use, it's quite liberating.

So is going to the bathroom. I see your point:thumbsup:

[Nigal]

Saving the world one book mark at a time.

[bdc87]

i'll be working :(


but its at a pet store.. we dont have black friday deals.. we just get 1 million tire kickers who come in and make a mess

+1 I also work at a Pet Store and no Black Friday just mess makers.

[BailOut]

Awe come on bailout! Let's not get too preachy here. I bet he'd burn less fuel shopping than you did last summer in the mountains finding all those mountain lakes.
Every one of those lakes that I found were along my normal commute route. On our way to work we would park in pullouts and mountain bike from there.

The one exception was our trip to Hole in the Ground which did indeed require a 140 mile round trip. However, I had one carpooler on the way there, two carpoolers on the way back, we saw a friend and ran two errands in a remote town nearby, we ate sack lunches and mountain biked roughly 17 miles with over 2,200 feet of elevation changes. In other words I averaged somewhere around 85 pMPG, got a hell of a workout, combined several errands and spent some quality time with friends.

That is hardly comparable to Christmas shopping, whether done online or in the manic traffic. :wink:

[Nigal]

Well slap my ass and call me "Nancy" I was wrong about you. You are blameless and unblemished and really do deserve to educate others on their personal lifestyles.

Carry on. :)

[Bob_VT]

Well slap my ass and call me "Nancy" I was wrong about you. You are blameless and unblemished and really do deserve to educate others on their personal lifestyles.

Carry on. :)

:laughabove: :clap:

[SailDesign]

Well slap my ass and call me "Nancy"

We've been calling you "Nancy" anyway for a while. Nothing much to change :smile:

[Nigal]

We've been calling you "Nancy" anyway for a while. Nothing much to change :smile:

LOL! Well let the ass slappin' commence then!

[Bob_VT]

Just a note for the gas saving internet shoppers....... be careful for counterfeit products. If it is a high ticket item be sure to get it from an authorized dealer and in person is best.

[GeneW]

Only reason to go out on "black friday" is in case I meet someone interesting while she's trying to buy stuff. Shared suffering is a great way to build rapport.

Most of the time I hang back and buy later on. Figure with the credit non-sense and layoffs that retailers will be scared and decide to cut prices after Black Friday.

Another definition of "Black Friday" is a day in October when stocks tend be liquidated for their profits. Usually the prices plunge. I half expected one this year but it didn't happen, probably because of the "Plunge Protection Team", an informal US agency that has been playing games on Wall Street (and set the precedent for US bank bailouts).

Gene

[GeneW]

Just a note for the gas saving internet shoppers....... be careful for counterfeit products. If it is a high ticket item be sure to get it from an authorized dealer and in person is best.

...especially automobile parts. You all need to buy a counterfeit front end part like you need a hole in the head. Literally.

Gene

[KCALB SIRAY]

http://www.dolphinsdock.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/thebestthingever-thumb.jpg

[*MAD DOG*]

I mentioned this in another post and our Aussie friends were not aware of Black Friday.

Here is a good explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

My wife attacks Black Friday by mapping her route and making a schedule! I stay home. :tongue:

Your wiki link says "This page has been deleted. The deletion log for the page is provided below for reference." Reason for deletion "nonsense"

[Bob_VT]

HA it was hacked!!!

Here it is C&P

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Black Friday
Observed by United States
Date Friday after Thanksgiving
2008 date November 28
2009 date November 27
Celebrations Shopping
Related to Thanksgiving and Christmas
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees take the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

The news media frequently refer to Black Friday as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of customer traffic,[1][2] in terms of actual sales volume, from 1993 through 2001 Black Friday was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day.[3] In 2002 and 2004, however, Black Friday ranked second place,[4] and in 2003 and 2005, Black Friday actually did reach first place.[5] The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of both sales and customer traffic) usually has been the Saturday before Christmas.[6]

In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside, the stores shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have only a few of the big draw items. Electronics and popular toys are often the most sought-after items and may be sharply discounted. Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. The local media often will cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began lining up at various stores and providing video of the shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items. Traditionally Black Friday sales were intended for those shopping for Christmas gifts. For some particularly popular items, some people shop at these sales in order to get deep discounts on items they can then resell, typically online.

Contents [hide]
1 Origin of the name "Black Friday"
1.1 Accounting practice
2 History
3 Black Friday on the Internet
3.1 Advertising tip sites
3.2 Cyber Monday
4 Other Countries
5 References



Origin of the name "Black Friday"
The earliest uses of "Black Friday" come from or reference Philadelphia and refer to the heavy traffic on that day, an implicit comparison to the extremely stressful and chaotic experience of Black Tuesday (the 1929 stock-market crash). The earliest known reference to "Black Friday" (in this sense), found by Bonnie Taylor-Blake of the American Dialect Society, refers to Black Friday 1965 and makes the Philadelphia origin explicit:

JANUARY 1966 -- "Black Friday" is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. "Black Friday" officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing.[7]

The term Black Friday began to get wider exposure around 1975, as shown by two newspaper articles from November 29, 1975, both datelined Philadelphia. The first reference is in an article entitled "Army vs. Navy: A Dimming Splendor," in The New York Times:

Philadelphia police and bus drivers call it "Black Friday" - that day each year between Thanksgiving Day and the Army-Navy game. It is the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year in the Bicentennial City as the Christmas list is checked off and the Eastern college football season nears conclusion.

The derivation is also clear in an Associated Press article entitled "Folks on Buying Spree Despite Down Economy," which ran in the Titusville Herald on the same day:

Store aisles were jammed. Escalators were nonstop people. It was the first day of the Christmas shopping season and despite the economy, folks here went on a buying spree. ... "That's why the bus drivers and cab drivers call today 'Black Friday,'" a sales manager at Gimbels said as she watched a traffic cop trying to control a crowd of jaywalkers. "They think in terms of headaches it gives them."


Accounting practice
Look up in the red, in the black in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.Many merchants objected to the use of a negative term to refer to one of the most important shopping days in the year.[8] By the early 1980s, an alternative theory began to be circulated: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season, beginning on the day after Thanksgiving. When this would be recorded in the financial records, once-common accounting practices would use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink to show positive amounts. Black Friday, under this theory, is the beginning of the period where retailers would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black). The earliest known use, again found by Bonnie Taylor-Blake, is from 1981, again from Philadelphia, and presents the "black ink" theory as one of several competing possibilities:

If the day is the year's biggest for retailers, why is it called Black Friday? Because it is a day retailers make profits -- black ink, said Grace McFeeley of Cherry Hill Mall. "I think it came from the media," said William Timmons of Strawbridge & Clothier. "It's the employees, we're the ones who call it Black Friday," said Belle Stephens of Moorestown Mall. "We work extra hard. It's a long hard day for the employees."[9]

The Christmas shopping season is of enormous importance to American retailers and, while an examination of the quarterly SEC filings of major retailers such as Wal-Mart or Target shows that most retailers intend to and actually do make profits during every quarter of the year, some retailers are so dependent on the Christmas shopping season that the quarter including Christmas is the only profitable one.[10]


History
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

The history of the day after Thanksgiving being the official start of the holiday shopping season is linked together strongly with the idea of Santa Claus parades. They are merged with a parade celebrating Thanksgiving. These parades, though mainly a celebration of thanksgiving, include an appearance by Santa at the end 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 / Thanksgiving day parades were sponsored by department stores. These include the Toronto Santa Claus Parade sponsored by Eaton's and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsored by Macy's. 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, America was suffering through the great depression. 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 Roosevelt moved the date for Thanksgiving up a week leading to much anger by the public who wound up having to change holiday plans. Folks started referring to the change as Franksgiving.


Black Friday on the Internet

Advertising tip sites
Some websites offer information about Black Friday specials up to a month in advance. The text listings of items and prices are usually accompanied by pictures of the actual ad circulars. These are either leaked by insiders or intentionally released by large retailers to give consumers insight and allow them time to plan.

In recent years, some retailers (including Wal-Mart, Target Corporation, OfficeMax, Big Lots, and Staples, Inc.) have claimed that the advertisements they send in advance of Black Friday and the prices included in those advertisements are copyrighted.[11]

Some of these retailers have used the take-down system of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a means to remove the offending price listings. Some believe this policy is derived from a fear that competitors will slash prices, and shoppers may comparison shop. The actual validity of the claim that prices form a protected work of authorship is uncertain as the prices themselves (though not the advertisements) might be considered a fact in which case they would not receive the same level of protection as a copyrighted work.[12]

The benefit of threatening Internet sites with a DMCA based lawsuit has proved tenuous at best. While some sites have complied with the requests, others have either ignored the threats or simply continued to post the information under the name of a similar sounding fictional retailer. However, as the DMCA allows websites 24 hours to comply with the take-down notice or file a counter notice, careful timing may mitigate the take-down notice. An Internet service provider in 2003 brought suit against Best Buy, Kohl's, and Target, arguing that the take-down notice provisions of the DMCA are unconstitutional. The court dismissed the case, ruling that only the third-party posters of the advertisements, and not the ISP itself, would have standing to sue the retailers.[13]


Cyber Monday
Main article: Cyber Monday
The term Cyber Monday, a neologism invented by the National Retail Federation's Shop.org division, refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which unofficially marks the beginning of the Christmas online shopping season.

In recent years, Cyber Monday has become a busy day for online retailers, with some sites offering low prices and other promotions on that day. Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is often wrongly said to be the busiest shopping day of the year for online shoppers, although in reality several days later in the holiday shopping season are busier.

Earlier in the 2000s the day had more significance (though it was not named as such until 2005) as most people did not have broadband connections at home and presumably used the first day back at work from the long Thanksgiving weekend to take advantage of such connections in the office to do online shopping. In response, many retailers now encourage people to do their online shopping at home on Thanksgiving Day itself by offering their Black Friday sales online that day.


Other Countries
Some Commonwealth of Nations countries have similar days to Black Friday. It is referred to as Boxing Day and held after Christmas Day. A few of those nations also have a Boxing Week-long sale, as held within Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.


References
^ ShopperTrak (2006-10-04). "ShopperTrak Predicts Top 10 Shopping Days of Holiday 2006". Press Release.
^ International Council of Shopping Centers. "Top Ten Holiday Shopping Days 2004" (PDF).
^ Purdue University News Service (2000-11-22). "Christmas Shopping Facts and Figures", Press Release.
^ International Council of Shopping Centers. "Holiday Watch: Media Guide 2006 Holiday Facts and Figure" (PDF).
^ International Council of Shopping Centers. "Holiday Watch: Media Guide 2006 Holiday Facts and Figure" (PDF).
^ Barbara and David P. Mikkelson (2006-11-20). "Black Friday". Urban Legends Reference Pages.
^ Martin L. Apfelbaum, Philadelphia's "Black Friday," American Philatelist, vol. 69, no. 4, p. 239 (Jan. 1966).
^ Jennifer Lin, Why the Name Black Friday? Uh . . . Well . . ., Philadelphia Inquirer (Nov. 30, 1985).
^ Shoppers Flood Stores for "Black Friday," Philadelphia Inquirer (Nov. 28, 1981).
^ E.g., Toys "R" Us, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2, 2008, p. 91.
^ "Sale fight no fright for area Web site," Charleston Gazette & Daily Mail (Nov. 26, 2002).
^ Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991).
^ Fatwallet, Inc. v. Best Buy Enterprises Services, 2004 WL 793548 (N.D.Ill. 2004).

[*MAD DOG*]

Thats some reading there bob. Is black friday always the first friday after thanksgiving? and what day is thanksgiving on? We dont celebrate thanksgiving here in Australia, Christmas is the time all the family gets together.

[Greenthunder]

I only go to one place during Black Friday and that is my local Walmart, $5 DVDs FTW!

[Bob_VT]

Thats some reading there bob. Is black friday always the first friday after thanksgiving? and what day is thanksgiving on? We dont celebrate thanksgiving here in Australia, Christmas is the time all the family gets together.

Yes. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday is the first Monday.

Thanksgiving is normally the 3d or 4th Thursday (I didn't make that rule) of November in the USA and it differ's in Canada.

Just a great excuse for turkey and football!

[PreciousPups4U]

Just a great excuse for turkey and football!


and ham with brown sugar and pineapple glaze, dressing (stuffing), rice, gravy, macaroni and cheese, corn, green beans, sweet potato casserole, broccolli casserole, hashbrown casserole, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake, coconut cake, cranberry orange relish, chocolate delight (mmmm) and probably lots more stuff. Now I am stuffed.

[*MAD DOG*]

Cyber Monday? Is that like Black Friday but more on pc parts and tvs?

[Red Horse]

Ill be camping on fry's electronics today.

[*MAD DOG*]

Duh! I just read Cyber Monday is the online version of Black Friday.

[Red Horse]

If someone is interested.

[*MAD DOG*]

Gee thats cheap on the Ge Force 9600 GT. Can I buy this online at that price?

[Red Horse]

The online sale is different, you can see it at fry's website.

[Shroomster]

well I just got back from black friday shopping....and I got what I wanted but I'm returning it hehe....

bought a Seagate 500gb external hard disk drive....and because of the mixed reviews and that fact it has poor cooling/no fan I'll be taking it back (usually I do my research before hand) I paid $70 but I'll be damned if I lose my wife's near 10gb of pictures....

[KCALB SIRAY]

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Business/ap_shopping2_071123_ssh.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/11/24/us/24shop_slide1.jpg
http://www.wordlab.com/uploaded_images/BestBuy1_jpg_small-749316.jpg
And this one I just don't understand
http://secondsafestcity.com/wp-content/black-friday-line-dollar-store.jpg

[Astroman]

Wal-mart and best buy are two places I will never hit up on black friday. Unless I can legally murder.

[KCALB SIRAY]

There's always the .99 store, lol

[Tamago]

we have a Black Friday dyno day here :) i may go after work!

[*MAD DOG*]

That looks like our boxing day sales. (boxing day is the day after christmas). People get injured and trampled trying to get into the store when it first opens.

[TinyGiant]

i heard that alot of retail stores only profit on black friday .. some stores break even all year and pull in most of their profit in just one day.. thats why the push black friday so hard.

we should start a "boycott black friday" the retail economy would probably collapse even more

[harponi]

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10876984&src=news

In New York state a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death opening the door for "Black Friday". :mad:

[bdc87]

The only thing I bought today was a pack of staples.

[KCALB SIRAY]

I bought a six pack, does that count?

[2006fronty]

The only thing I bought today was a pack of staples.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/bullardshaun/OFFICE_SPACE_SE-0.jpg
"Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler"