Please explain "Black Friday" to a limey

[Batou667]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

 

[Thaluikhain]

It's like the running of the bulls in Spain.

Except, it's with shoppers. Lots of sales on all at the same time, so hordes of them herd up outside the doors, and stampeded through once they are unlocked, trampling each other to death.

 

[attackshark]

a day when retail stores mark down prices on a plethora of items, ranging from electronics to toys to jewelry, in an attempt to get people to buy things for the holidays. occurring during and after thanksgiving, throngs of store goers will wait outside in the cold for a chance to seize the best deals and "save" money.

it's a capitalistic wet dream and a national holidays in the states. i recommend avoiding all together.

 

[Heronblade]

Basically, many retail stores in the US skirt the line between making and losing money for much of the year and then make up for that stagnant period over the winter months. This led to some stores trying to kick this period of being "in the black" off on the right foot with a series of sales. Eventually, this got semi sort of coordinated into a single day.

So yeah, on the Friday after thanksgiving, most retail stores host a wide variety of sales in an attempt to entice the masses who have only last night gorged themselves on rich food into buying a whole bunch of junk. Unfortunately, people go nuts over this event.

Frankly, the insanity has gotten to the point in recent years that I won't even drive to a non retail store on this particular day if I do not have to.

 

[Batou667]

Is there any kind of cultural significance to the event, i.e. the date or the name? Is it just coincidence that it's near Thanksgiving? Seems to me the shops would want to hike up the prices ahead of Christmas...

 

[Heronblade]

Is there any kind of cultural significance to the event, i.e. the date or the name? Is it just coincidence that it's near Thanksgiving? Seems to me the shops would want to hike up the prices ahead of Christmas...

No, no, and incorrect.

It is generally considered the start of the Christmas shopping season, but has no cultural significance of its own.

Concerning the timing, more people, and therefore potential customers, are off of work on this particular day. The poor saps who didn't manage to get off of work on Black Friday really really wish they had, but no one seems to give a damn about them.

As for hiking the prices up, the revenue gained from drawing people in via the sales heavily outweighs the kind of price gouging you can wring out of normal traffic. I read once that the Walmart chain of stores boosts their yearly net profit by around 5 billion dollars thanks to Black Friday.

 

[Neverhoodian]

The name "Black Friday" refers to finances. Going "in the black" means you're turning a profit as opposed to losing more than you earn, or going "in the red." It refers to the olden days when businesses used red and black ink for their bookkeeping.

I avoid Black Friday like the plague. I'm a bit of an introvert, so the idea of pushing my way through hordes of crazed shoppers doesn't appeal to me at all. It also tends to bring out the worst in people. Every year reports crop up about people beating the shit out of each other over some piece of merchandise and even deaths by trampling.

 

[OneCatch]

It's like the running of the bulls in Spain.

Except, it's with shoppers. Lots of sales on all at the same time, so hordes of them herd up outside the doors, and stampeded through once they are unlocked, trampling each other to death.

It seems there's more truth to this than you might think:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25150109

In an Asda store at the Westway centre in west Belfast, a woman was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist after scenes that a customer described as "bedlam".
Hundreds of people queued outside the shop from 05:00 GMT for cut-price goods that included televisions sets which were reduced from £179 to £99. However, when it got under way three hours later, there was what one woman described as a "stampede" with people wrestling over the goods.

Which is hilarious, especially since it's ASDA, but what the fuck is wrong with people?

 

[Tom_green_day]

It's called Black Friday because Americans have so much pent-up rage that they used to take out on slaves, but now that's illegal all the middle-aged large women and men have to have their own kind of mosh pit trying to buy whatever they can.
Or at least that's what Wikipedia says.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

"Black Friday" is a reference to business and economics. Being "in the black" is generally a good thing, as it means you are turning a profit. Considering the positive use of the word, I seriously doubt anyone would ascribe the phrase to racism. Well, unless they don't know anything about business.

Anyways, think of it this way...On Black Friday, you have:

1. Crazy people that literally fight over the last of an item.
2. Semi-crazy people that go to the store because they enjoy shopping on such a busy day and/or getting seriously discounted items.
3. Sane people who stay home and to which the extent of their shopping is done online.

In general, though, items can be seriously discounted. I know my uncle was telling me about an item that normally goes for $500 was discounted to $50 (yes, you read that right, a $450 discount!). Essentially, it is a very good day to get a lot of items that you want, as you will likely get them at a huge discount. It also is generally viewed as the beginning of Christmas shopping, so some people brave the crowds to get their Christmas shopping done early, and they can get more for their money in one day compared to the rest of the Christmas shopping season.

 

[HardkorSB]

Black Friday is when people show who they really are:

 

[Teoes]

As far as the UK is concerned (or perhaps just more locally to Scotland or even just to Glasgow, I don't know) Black Friday is the last Friday before Christmas. The majority of companies often have their works Christmas night out on this day along with normal weekend revellers. This leads to an even higher than normal concentration of shit-faced folk stoting about town pissing and spewing everywhere and the idea of catching a taxi home after the buses and trains have stopped becoming an impossibility.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

jesus, you guys keep citing the worst examples possible. while it is pretty bad in some places, that doesn't speak for the majority of places; sure it gets pretty damn busy but it doesn't turn into blood baths like some videos show it to be.


it's a time for retailers to mark down essentially everything so people are willing to spend every dime they've been saving for holiday gifts, thus the increase in purchases drives massive profits, making companies "in the black" economically speaking.


Me personally? I just do online shopping, just as good of deals if not better on amazon/newegg/etc...

cyber monday is basically the equivalent of black friday of retail stores.

 

[Barbas]

Ever seen the film 28 Days Later? It's basically like that. Don't be at street level when it all kicks off.

Spoiler

 

[kailus13]

Ever seen the film 28 Days Later? It's basically like that. Don't be at street level when it all kicks off.

Spoiler

Don't knock it, Setting yourself on fire is a legitimate Black Friday strategy. Nobody even tries to get in your way while you're on fire.

 

[piinyouri]

jesus, you guys keep citing the worst examples possible. while it is pretty bad in some places, that doesn't speak for the majority of places; sure it gets pretty damn busy but it doesn't turn into blood baths like some videos show it to be.

Indeed. We went down to our local Wal-Mart to have a look see and snagged a coffee maker and a griddle for 10 bucks each. Fairly decent quality for both.
Quite a little deal plus there was almost no one there.