I’ve never quite understood the phenomenon. People will wake up uncharacteristically early and sit outside in the cold and rain to wait for stores to open (again, uncharacteristically early) to shell out cash on so-called “great deals.” Given, many of these sales and discounts are pretty steep, but that doesn’t necessarily justify the 4am rush.
Particularly when people know ahead of time that they’ll get caught up in the experience and buy things they don’t need, purely because of the discount.
From Facebook this morning,
I even got myself a Kitchenaid stand mixer for 139 bucks!
Apparently I am a sheep too. My debit card just about melted from all of the use.
From Twitter:
Heroes Season 2 is only $11.99 at Target!?!?!? Wait minute! I already own it!
bought more DJ equipment, damn you #blackfriday
Once upon a time, I worked retail during the holidays. The only thing that frustrated me more than the excessive compulsive spending on “black Friday” was the number of people in the store over the following few days to return the things they didn’t need. One family bought duplicates of every jacket and t-shirt in every size available so they didn’t waste time trying things on inside the store; they then returned everything they didn’t fit.
“Black Friday” is called such because it’s one of the few days each year that thin-margin retailers manage to push their balance sheets back into the positive – into the “black.” I’ve always considered the name to be more ominous than that. Black Friday is a celebration of consumerism at its worst. A “black” day indeed for anyone interested in savings, social progress, or quality marketing.
One of the more hopeful quotes from Twitter:
I’ve never done it! #blackfriday doesn’t exist in Italy!
What would America be like without Black Friday?
