The History of Black Friday

The History of Black Friday

Colleen Jones

Florida Technical College

 Consumer Behavior

The History of Black Friday

There are a few theories on why the day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday”. Most retailers operate at a financial loss from January through November. The day after Thanksgiving behind the season’s profits. Retailers would no longer have losses and be “in the red”, instead all profits are recorded in black. Black Friday is the year’s biggest day for profits and that’s one of the theories of how this day got its name. Another theory comes from retail employees because it’s the longest and hardest day of the year.

Black Friday originated in Philadelphia in the 1960’s. The term Black Friday was used to describe heavy road traffic and pedestrian traffic. This phenomenon occurred on the day after Thanksgiving. In the late 2000’s retailers started opening their stores at 4 am and 5 am. In 2011 the modern Black Friday was born, several major retailers like Target, Macys and Best Buy opened at midnight for the first time. The following year other retailers opened at 8 pm on Thanksgiving Day. Last year 2014 retailers opened for business at 5 pm on Thanksgiving making Thanksgiving a two day shopping holiday.

Thanksgiving was made an official national holiday by Abraham Lincoln during the civil war, establishing it as the final Thursday in November. Retailers were distraught because the last Thursday in November fell on the 3oth which caused a shorter shopping season. In 1939 retailers approached Franklin D Roosevelt and asked him to change the date. FDR agreed to change the date and congress passed the law setting the fourth Thursday in November as the official date of the Thanksgiving holiday. Franklin D Roosevelt hoped it would end the country’s depression by stimulating spending. Consumers today regard Thanksgiving as the official holiday shopping season. The Christmas shopping season is extremely important to American retailers because the profits made during this time compensates for losses during the rest of the year.

 Thanksgiving is not just about the turkey, grandma’s apple pie, pumpkin pie or Aunt Judy’s sweet potato pie. Once the big family gathering around the Thanksgiving feast is done the women clean up the aftermath, the men go horizontal in the recliners napping with full bellies and watching football thorough their eyelids and the children go play outside. Then the women get together study sales ads and begin the strategizing for the biggest shopping day of the year. It’s the time they get to spend together bonding and preparing for the day after Thanksgiving shopping phenomenon.

 The allure of a bargain speaks to human nature. The limited time deals drive people to buy due to a fear of scarcity. Retailers pull out all the stops because of the dependence of holiday shoppers. Stores that open on Thanksgiving or early the day after entice shoppers with baked goods and match competitors prices. Creating a sense of urgency retailers trick consumers with giveaways, free gift wrapping and similar services. In stores mood setting music encourages browsing, but different moods of the consumer changes what products they want to purchase. Feelings of pride makes consumers want to purchase personal adornment products like clothes, shoes, watches and jewelry. Feelings of contentment make people want to buy hoe products like pajamas, appliances, furniture and spa products. (Last Name, Year)