This is a "day" that means different things to different people.
- To the bargain hunter, it is nirvana.
- To the retailer, it is a harbinger of how profitable the holiday season will end up being.
- For the store manager, it is mostly a headache.
- To some store employees, it is a family holiday lost.
- To the Michigan police officers who coined the term "Black Friday" because the crowds of holiday shoppers and the crowds of hunters on the same weekend often made for a lot of problems and a huge crowd control issue, it was not something they looked forward to.
- To many of us, it is a day to go to the movies.
I have nothing against the concept of a big day of sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. I understand the concept of retailers taking a loss on a few items to draw the crowds into their stores in the hopes they will buy more things. I have no problem with that.
I do have a problem that Black Friday has morphed into Black Thursday evening or even Black Thursday AND Friday.
One of the things that I love about Thanksgiving is that it is one of the few holidays that has remained largely uncommercialized. As retailers enter into an arms race as to who can open earliest and longest, and offer the most outrageous deals, Thanksgiving is threatened. Or at the very least, disrespected.
I understand that retailers jobs are to make sales and sometimes you have to do things to attract shoppers into your store. What I don't understand is why Black Friday has become so popular among retailers. I have talked to a couple managers of big box stores and they admitted that they lose money on this day. Between the deeply discounted sale items and the extra staff hours and the huge amount of advertising, I think most retailers count on customers coming back into the store in December so they can make up the money they lose on Black Friday.
I much prefer some of the corollary days that have sprung up around Black Friday. My favorite is Shop Local Saturday. It is not an organized thing in most communities. You won't be able to get 50" televisions for $99. But you will be able to find unique gifts and will support small, local businesses, which are the lifeblood of most communities.
So if you missed the Thursday evening kick-off of Black Friday, or you didn't feel like camping out in front of your electronics store of choice to get a deal on an iPad, or you don't want to fight someone over the latest Furby, consider taking today off. Go shopping tomorrow. Go shopping locally.
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