What is Black Friday?

Question

I've heard a lot about Black Friday stuff, like shopping, great deals. I've been wondering, what is Black Friday and why is it named that?

Answer 1

just stay away from shopping tomorrow. and you'll be fine.

Answer 2

It has been called "Black Friday" because traditionally that is the day that the stores go "in the black" in their books (that is, making a profit) when they have been "in the red" up to that point in the year (which simply means the value of the items they have in stock is more than the money they have in the bank). It's a convenient holiday here in the US, because most people get the day after Thanksgiving off and have nothing else to do but shop...so, Black Friday is basically a shopping holiday. You can get some great deals, but the crowds are crazy!!!

Answer 3

"Industry lingo that has come to connote a sharp drop in the financial markets. The first Black Friday occurred on September 24, 1869. A group of financiers attempted to corner the gold market, which caused a panic and then an economic depression. The panic of 1873 also began on Friday."

A name that means a sudden drop in prices....

The first friday after thanksgiving is technically the first day to shop for xmas gifts.... most retailers try to kick off the holiday shopping season by having ridiculously low prices.....

Stoking the fires if you will.... but none the less... a day marked with severely decreased prices... ergo...a black friday.

Answer 4

As Maggie said, being in the black means that you are finally making a profit, while being in the red means you are not doing great. (I know, I can't believe they use the word "black" in a positive way.)

Thanksgiving is the business shopping day of the year, so they call it Black Friday.

Answer 5

Its the shopping day after Thanksgiving and its called Black Friday because stores are hoping to get their stores out of "red" ink (debt/non-profit) and bring it into the "black" ink (showing profit). This time of the year can make or break a store, especially one that is struggling.

Answer 6

There are two popular reasons for the name:

1.) Retail sellers, whose books show they're operating at a loss all year (ie, in the red) begin to turn a profit (ie, in the black).

2.) Others think that it has to do with the madness and aggravation brought about by the throngs of people behaving at their most materialistic and worst.

I tend to think the former is the truest reason for the name.

Answer 7

The Friday after Thanksgiving. Every store has major sales.

Answer 8

It's the day after Thanksgiving. Lots of companies have sales and make lots of money, so their profits move from the red (net loss) to the black (net gain). Despite, what a lot of people think, it has nothing to do with race.

Answer 9

BLACK FRIDAY (SHOPPING) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_Sale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products.

Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve or the last Saturday before Christmas.

Origin

The first use of this term to describe the day after Thanksgiving is not exactly known. There are two popular theories as to its origin.

Accounting practice

One theory is that stores traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, common accounting practices use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink would show positive amounts. Black Friday is the beginning of the period where they would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black).

Stress from large crowds

Another theory comes from the fact that shopping experience on this day can be extremely stressful. The term is used as a comparison to the extremely stressful and chaotic experience of Black Thursday or other black days. According to The Word Spy:

Earliest Citation:
Christmas decorations around Tampa Bay started going up in late October, and business has been brisk since then. And while Friday--known as Black Friday for the legendary hordes--will be the biggest shopping day for many area stores, others ring up the greatest sales the Saturday before Christmas.
—Marilyn Marks, "Retailers expect good sales this Christmas," St. Petersburg Times, November 27, 1986

There exists an earlier reference, speaking to the Friday after Thanksgiving:

A BLACK FRIDAY.
There have been many Black Fridays in recent history. Most of them have been days of financial panic. There has been none of blacker foreboding than last Friday. And the blackness is not loss or fear of loss in stocks and bonds.
New York Times (1857-Current file).
New York, N.Y.: Dec 3, 1922. pg. 38, 1 pgs
ISSN/ISBN 03624331

Employees of retail stores have for years referred to Black Friday in a satirical way, to note the extremely stressful and hectic nature of the day. Heavy traffic and customer demands added to the long hours make it a difficult day.


Black Friday on the Internet

Advertisements in advance

Certain websites such as DealTaker.com offer information about Black Friday deals up to a month in advance. The text listings of prices are usually accompanied by adscans -- complete PDFs either leaked by insiders, or intentionally released by large retailers to give consumers insight and allow them time to plan.

Cyber Monday

The term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday 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.

Controversy

Response (Buy Nothing Day)

Anti-consumer frenzy protesters have chosen this day as Buy Nothing Day in North America, where those concerned about the increasing power and influence of consumer corporations are urged to not make consumer purchases.

DMCA

In recent years, some retailers (including Wal-Mart, Target Corporation, Best Buy, and Staples, Inc.) have claimed that the advertisements they send in advance of Black Friday and the prices included in those advertisement are intellectual property and protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Using the take down provision of the DMCA, these retailers have threatened various internet web sites who post Black Friday prices to the internet in advance of the intended release date by the retailers. This policy apparently derives from a fear that competitors, in addition to customers, will also have access to this information and use it for competitive advantage. The actual validity of the claim that prices are protected intellectual property is uncertain as prices might be considered a 'fact' in which case they would not receive the same level of protection as pure intellectual property.

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.

Answer 10

WOW, maybe it should be called greedy green back day. While I don't live there have a good thanksgiving day and shop till u drop Friday.

Answer 11

it is called black friday because that is when retail stores make a lot of money, hence putting them in the 'black" for the year