Talk:Black Friday (shopping)

What's "black" about it?

After reading the text

The day's name originated in Philadelphia where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.

I still do not understand why the day was called "black." Can anyone augment the text to explain that? AmigoNico (talk) 10:51, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Its because its the time when retailers profits go "into the black". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.15.30.125 (talk) 14:40, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

as the article states, this was asserted after the fact as an kludgey "explanation", but the reality is that it was the very negative meanings involved when first coined. and at this point, i think we are back to those meanings: despite "authorities" constantly citing the "into the black" theory, i think most people nowadays are using it with a wink and a nod to the chaos involved. Similar to "Zoo Year's Eve". 66.105.218.18 (talk) 13:24, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

"black" can mean the same as "dark", as in ominous, dreadful, bad, etc... the term was probably employed with melodramatic intent. It's the day things turn ugly for traffic cops maybe... 24.86.226.9 (talk) 08:28, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

On this Thanksgiving Day of 2011, I, Richard Joseph Kutney, want to change the name of "Black Friday" to "Buy Friday." I have a Bachelor's degree in English and an M.B.A. in Marketing. "Buy Friday" more accurately describes the day after Thanksgiving. "Buy Friday" has the same "long i" sound: "B\ai\y Fr\ai\day." Will you please start using "Buy Friday?" Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by R kutney (talk • contribs) 23:38, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

There's a French expression, "noir de monde", which means the crowds are so thick you can't see through them. A literal translation would be "black with people", which seems very close to the meaning in this article. Possibly a link? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.67.15.51 (talk) 21:09, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

i doubt it. i cannot see anyone in English saying the crowds are so thick that it's "black" out or "dark" out. but i CAN see a bunch of people involved with keeping order saying it's a "black day" on their yearly calendar.

i think most americans are aware of "black sunday" in the irish context, and maybe a passing reference to other "black ---day"s throughout history. the names have been recycled for various movies, etc., so it's not a stretch to slap them on something else. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.105.218.32 (talk) 22:23, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Doorbusters

The article needs some serious explanation of the PRICING STRUCTURE in these sales. As currently written, one gets the impression that people are all showing up at opening time for no particular reason.

Point being that most of the sales are staggered "weekend price", "Friday-only price", "early bird price 5 am - 9 am", "doorbuster price first hour only", stuff like that. And even where a time limit is not involved, the really really great deals (90% off etc) usually have "5 per store" or "10 per store", so in reality, the sale lasts about 3 minutes!

THIS is why there is a mad panic to be among the first 10 or 20 people to get inside. AFAIK, all of the mobs, fights, riots etc. are happening in the first 20 or 30 mins of opening. Article gives the impression they continue throughout the day. Definitely not. 66.105.218.2 (talk) 12:52, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Thursday

Anyone want to mention Black Thursday? 71.146.20.62 (talk) 22:14, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

I added a brief blurb for starters. Since the page is currently semi-protected, let me know if there are any additions you would like to make. Cheers, Arbitrarily0 ^(talk) 00:06, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Spinoffs

these should be better organized. "cyber friday", for example, is an ATTEMPT to upstage cyber monday, but it has not really taken off. the article implies the two are comparable. moreover, no one has settled in on a name for thursday yet. "black thursday" will probably win out, but i have not heard it actually used yet. nor "thanksgiving thursday", which the article cites. news outlets are still saying "night before black friday".

and where is "local/small business saturday" in the article?! not as common as "cyber monday", perhaps, but clearly more common than "cyber friday" or some of the other recent coinages ("black wednesday", anyone?).

in other words, "black friday", "cyber monday" and "local saturday" are the only ones in common use. in that order! IMHO. 66.105.218.32 (talk) 22:50, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

UPDATE: newegg is having a "Black November" sale. LOL. talk about MILKING something! 66.105.218.22 (talk) 10:25, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Neutrality

Parts of this article sound like they were written by the Occupy Wall Street crowd, such as "forcing employees to either go without enough sleep or miss all or part of Thanksgiving with family." There's a clear bias here ("Oh, the poor employees who have actually a job in this rotten economy and are actually expected to work!") that needs to be cleaned up, not in favor of the retailers but simply made neutral. B.Rossow · talk 15:23, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

This seemed a bit jarring to me too. The tenses are all mixed up as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.145.218.56 (talk) 00:12, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Since the NPOV language has been removed, I have deleted the POV flag. John M Baker (talk) 23:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Accounting Treatment/Name Origination

Retailers operate at a loss January through November? That's a ridiculous notion, even if it is sourced. I believe it should be taken down. Show me an example of a major retailer who operates at a loss until November. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.240.189.5 (talk) 23:10, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Mis-information in article.

The article states that Walmart "opens" at 10 a.m. Walmart does not close for Thanksgiving (the only day it is closed is Christmas), the sale starts at 10 a.m. Also, the reason that Sears is open on Thanksgiving now is because they are owned by Kmart which also does not close for Thanksgiving. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.161.224.164 (talk) 02:07, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Blue Laws

Somewhere in the opening paragraphs the phrase "in most states" needs to be added. Some states, like Massachusetts, do not permit stores to open on Thanksgiving. Nor for the employees to even do prep work until 12:01 Friday, so in practice most are opening at 12:30 or 1 am this year.

Meanwhile, in the states where it IS permitted, how is "10 pm" a new extreme (2011), when the article later states they have previously been open "all day Thanksgiving"??

AFAIK, this is NOT the case. All of these big chains like Walmart, KMart etc are CLOSED the bulk of the day. The only question is whether they're opening at 10pm, 11pm, or w/e, where prior years it has been 4 am or 5 am Friday. 66.105.218.2 (talk) 12:35, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from , 24 November 2011

Current text: A backlash has resulted, with an online petition gathering more than 184,000 virtual signatures urging Target to let their employees have Thanksgiving with their families. Revised text: A backlash has resulted, with an online petition gathering more than 199,790 virtual signatures urging Target to let their employees have Thanksgiving with their families. Tahleki (talk) 16:54, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Y Done Updated the number, thank you. Zidanie5 (talk) 07:36, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

How about a backlash against the backlash! I would much rather go to a store at 10 at night than have to get up at 3 or 4 in the ferkin morning! Are they kidding?!

Hopefully when this plays out, they'll all be open 6pm Thanksgiving until 1 or 2 am Friday. Then we can all go home -- customers and staff alike -- and SLEEP all day Friday!

Show of hands? 66.105.218.22 (talk) 10:30, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Looks to me that the retailer lobby created this black friday idea in order to get more people into stores. The question is how much did the retailer lobby pay wikipedia to create this black friday entry?98.245.211.241 (talk) 17:21, 26 November 2011 (UTC)cryofan

Hey man, don't be so suspicious! The Sound and the Fury (talk) 03:07, 30 November 2011 (UTC)