services, it comes up every last Friday of November which is about one month to Christmas.
Thehistory of Black Friday dated back to Thanksgiving Day in the United States(the fourth Thursday of November). Since 1932, it has been regarded as thebeginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., and most majorretailers open very early (and more recently during overnight hours) and offerpromotional sales. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but California andsome other states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holidayfor state government employees, sometimes in lieu of another federal holidaysuch as Columbus Day.Many non-retail employees and schools have bothThanksgiving and the following Friday off, which, along with the followingregular weekend, makes it a four-day weekend, thereby increasing the number ofpotential shoppers.
It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year
since 2005,although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have
described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period
of time.Similar stories resurface year upon year at this time, portraying
hysteria and shortage of stock, creating a state of positive feedback.
In 2014, spending volume on Black Friday fell for the first time since the 2008 recession. $50.9 billion was spent during the 4-day Black Friday weekend, down 11% from the previous year. However, the U.S. economy was not in a recession. Christmas creep has been cited as a factor in the diminishing importance of Black Friday, as many retailers now spread out their promotions over the entire months of November and December rather than concentrate them on a single shopping day or weekend.
In 2014, spending volume on Black Friday fell for the first time since the 2008 recession. $50.9 billion was spent during the 4-day Black Friday weekend, down 11% from the previous year. However, the U.S. economy was not in a recession. Christmas creep has been cited as a factor in the diminishing importance of Black Friday, as many retailers now spread out their promotions over the entire months of November and December rather than concentrate them on a single shopping day or weekend.
For many years, it was common for retailers to open at6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000s many had crept to 5:00 or 4:00. This wastaken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target,Kohl's, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls) opened at midnight for the first time. In2012, Walmart and several other retailers announced that they would open mostof their stores at 8:00 p.m.on Thanksgiving Day, prompting calls for awalkout among some workers. In 2014, stores such as JCPenney, Best Buy, andRadio Shack opened at 5:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day while stores such as Target,Walmart, Belk, and Sears opened at 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day. Three states,Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts, prohibit large supermarkets, big boxstores, and department stores from opening on Thanksgiving, due to There havebeen reports of violence occurring between shoppers on Black Friday. Since2006, there have been 7 reported deaths and 98 injuries throughout the UnitedStates.
It is common for prospective shoppers to camp out over the Thanksgivingholiday in an effort to secure a place in front of the line and thus a betterchance at getting desired items. This poses a significant safety risk (such asthe use of propane and generators in the most elaborate cases, and in general,the blocking of emergency access and fire lanes, causing at least one city toban the practice.
It is common for prospective shoppers to camp out over the Thanksgivingholiday in an effort to secure a place in front of the line and thus a betterchance at getting desired items. This poses a significant safety risk (such asthe use of propane and generators in the most elaborate cases, and in general,the blocking of emergency access and fire lanes, causing at least one city toban the practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment