2008 Woodie Awards
The BLACK FRIDAY Experience
Braving the mall the day after Christmas
Sarah Mitchell
Issue date: 12/4/04 Section: Viewpoint
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Thanksgiving may be the actual national holiday, but everyone knows the monumental importance of the day after. Before that turkey dinner has even fully digested, Americans gear up to burn off the calories from that amazing chocolate cream pie on the busiest shopping day of the year. They may be bleary-eyed, they may be stuffed, but they're out there waiting in the pre-dawn hours to take advantage of the early-bird specials.
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. (or maybe 6:00 a.m. for stores with less enthusiastic managers), the clock starts ticking off the countdown to Christmas. With Thanksgiving falling a little late this year, there were only (gasp!) 30 shopping days left until Christmas!
Luckily, the frenzy that is "Black Friday" is the time when shoppers, enjoying a rare Friday off, have the opportunity to get significant part of their Christmas shopping lists crossed off. So nicknamed because it was traditionally the day when retailers saw their figures enter the positive column (for all you Accounting majors), Black Friday commemorates the official inauguration of the holiday season. Sure the decorations may have been up since October, but November 26th marked the day when all your favorite stores cranked up those cheerful carols, snapped on the festive lights and brought out those joyous "Sale" signs.
While retailers today may say that the day after Thanksgiving is no longer the day when the most dollars are spent, it's hard to argue against it generating the largest turn-out. For anyone who woke up to alarm clocks ringing far before sunrise, all they had to do was snap on the local news to find out they wouldn't be the first in line. Area Wal-Marts reported customers arriving up to three hours before their 5:30 a.m. opening; one woman proudly reported that she'd arrived at 1:00 a.m. and slept in her car until another set of headlights woke her! Now that's dedication.
Yet while some view this day as a personal mission to find the best gifts at the lowest prices, others are perfectly content to stroll through the malls and just take in the sights (much to the chagrin of the former group I might point out).
Beginning at 5:00 a.m. (or maybe 6:00 a.m. for stores with less enthusiastic managers), the clock starts ticking off the countdown to Christmas. With Thanksgiving falling a little late this year, there were only (gasp!) 30 shopping days left until Christmas!
Luckily, the frenzy that is "Black Friday" is the time when shoppers, enjoying a rare Friday off, have the opportunity to get significant part of their Christmas shopping lists crossed off. So nicknamed because it was traditionally the day when retailers saw their figures enter the positive column (for all you Accounting majors), Black Friday commemorates the official inauguration of the holiday season. Sure the decorations may have been up since October, but November 26th marked the day when all your favorite stores cranked up those cheerful carols, snapped on the festive lights and brought out those joyous "Sale" signs.
While retailers today may say that the day after Thanksgiving is no longer the day when the most dollars are spent, it's hard to argue against it generating the largest turn-out. For anyone who woke up to alarm clocks ringing far before sunrise, all they had to do was snap on the local news to find out they wouldn't be the first in line. Area Wal-Marts reported customers arriving up to three hours before their 5:30 a.m. opening; one woman proudly reported that she'd arrived at 1:00 a.m. and slept in her car until another set of headlights woke her! Now that's dedication.
Yet while some view this day as a personal mission to find the best gifts at the lowest prices, others are perfectly content to stroll through the malls and just take in the sights (much to the chagrin of the former group I might point out).