BLACK FRIDAY

Black Friday History

“Black Friday” Changed Thanksgiving! Was not called “Black Friday” until 1960’s and not popular until 1980s. Retailers have been trying to get people shopping on the Friday after turkey day since the late 19 th century. Retailers would actually sponsor parades the day after Thanksgiving. People would then shop after the parades. By the 1930s “Black Friday” was the official start of the holiday shopping season. HOWEVER… This was really bad when the last Thursday in November was the fifth Thursday in November. = Shorter shopping season for retailers… Therefore, in 1939 retailers used lobbyists to successfully convince President Roosevelt to CHANGE the official date of Thanksgiving to the on the second to last Thursday in November. This lasted two years before controversy forced Congress to make a compromise changing the official date of Thanksgiving to the FOURTH Thursday in November.

The TERM “Black Friday”… ??? “Black Friday” was not coined until the mid 1960s. The popular myth that “Black Friday” was the date that retailers moved from losses (red ink) to profits (black ink) is likely NOT TRUE. In fact, the true origin of the term stems from numerous news articles describing the traffic and hoards of people who crowded the downtown shopping districts of many New England cities. The actual cited report was a police report form Philadelphia. The term “Black Friday” was used to negatively describe the resulting massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks. The American Philatelisht, Philidelphia, 1966

Black Friday Facts Nearly 147 million people go out to shop on Black Friday every year. In 2010: 212 million shoppers spent $39 billion for an average spending of $ In 2008, a Wal-Mart employee in Green Acres, Long Island was trampled to death by a crowd of “Black Friday” shoppers. Shop.org executives are credited with creating the popular idea of “Cyber Monday.”

Product Categories Shoppers Are MOST Interested In: Electronic Devices – 59% of people DVD and BLU-RAY – 49% of people Clothing – 48% of people Video Games – 45% of people Computers – 44% of people

Black Friday MYTHS The name of “Black Friday” came from the stock market crash in late There have been numerous references to “Black” days where the stock market crashed. Black Friday – 1969 “Black Friday” is the biggest shopping day of the year. Actually, in recent years it has rarely landed in the top 5. The REAL biggest shopping day of the year is nearly always the Saturday before Christmas. “Cyber Monday” is the biggest online shopping day of the year. Historically, “Cyber Monday” does not evan make the top ten and before the term was coined and promoted, it was not even typically in the top 30.