History of Black Friday

All over America people hear the term ‘Black Friday’ and instantly think about shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  But no one really knows what it means or where it comes from.

Black Friday has been a part of the American culture for decades, but didn’t really become popular until a few years ago.  According to Wikipedia, in 2005 it became the busiest shopping day of the year.  It was also ranked number one in 2003, but failed reach the amount in 2004.

According to the Wikipedia page on Black Friday, the term originated in Philadelphia  where it was used to describe the disruptive traffic that occurred the day after Thanksgiving.  The term began being used outside of Philadelphia in 1975 where it was changed to show when retailers are “in the black.”

This day is a very popular shopping day because it kicks off the holiday season with low, discounted prices on nearly everything.  Black Friday is known for the mega sales.

In the late 2000’s, most stores open around 5 a.m. but some open as early as 4 in the morning and a few stores stayed open on Thanksgiving night so that sales could begin at midnight.  Before that, stores were lucky to be open by 6 a.m.  This change took place over the course of the years that Black Friday was becoming popular.

In the past Black Friday wouldn’t only last on the day after Thanksgiving, but rather the entire weekend.  This allowed for more people to have the opportunity to participate in the shopping events.  It changed to create a higher demand for the sales on that day, it created a greater sense of urgency.

That change caused more violent things to take place on Black Friday, from people fighting over the last clearance item, to fighting to be the first person in the door.  By Black Friday moving to only one day, it influenced more crazy things to occur because consumers only had one day and once chance to get the deals they are looking for.

Over the past few years Black Friday has drastically changed to please the general public.  It has come a long way from being traffic in Philadelphia to a crazed day for discount shopping.  This year Black Friday is on Friday, November 23.