BLACK FRIDAY SALE

1. Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the United States – the fourth Thursday of November – and it is the biggest shopping day of the year. It is also the official kick-off to Christmas shopping season. Many retailers open very early in the morning and people make long queues before the opening hour to benefit from sales. Many state employees and schools have both Thanksgiving and the following Friday off which makes it a 4-day holiday with the weekend. So the number of shoppers increase on this holiday and it becomes the busiest shopping period of the year.

2. The term ‘Black Friday’ first originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s. The word ‘black’ was used to describe the heavy traffic that the cars and the shoppers created in the city centre on the day after Thanksgiving. The stores, streets and shopping malls were very crowded with shoppers and it was chaotic. More than twenty years later, the term became more popular because this shopping spree spread to the nearby cities. Thus, Black Friday became a common term especially in the USA.

3. Although the term ‘Black Friday’ has a bad meaning, it is not bad at all for the retailers. This holiday shopping season moved retailers from being “in the red” (which means loss in financial terms) to being “in the black” (which means making a profit in financial terms). Many retailers wait for the Black Friday to earn money and make a profit. They redecorate their stores, announce their discounts – which may go up to 80 % - and try to attract as many customers as possible.

4. There are obviously many people who enjoy shopping on Black Friday but, some of them do not prefer it because of the crowd. For these people, online shopping on Black Friday is also possible. Without even leaving home, you may benefit the discounts offered on this day. Besides, some people think that Black Friday causes shopping addiction and this is no good for the society.

5. All in all, whether you support it or not, Black Friday shopping has spread to the world and it is now popular not only in the USA but also in other countries such as the UK and other European countries. Retailers also seem to be happy with the occasion and every year they try to find out new ways to attract more customers to their stores.