The time has come: Thanksgiving break is nearly upon us. Thanksgiving is a celebration of thanks for everything that you have. It is a chance for family to see each other, converse, and of course enjoy delicious food. For some, an even more exciting "holiday" is what comes the day after Thanksgiving. Well, at least it used to be the day after...
Black Friday was originally a term used by the Philadelphia police in the 1960s to refer to the day that the city was overrun with troublesome fans visiting for the Army vs. Navy football game the day after Thanksgiving. In the 1980s, stores thought it would be a genius idea to change the term meaning and associate it in a positive way with their profits and their busiest shopping days. This gave us our traditional definition of Black Friday.
In 2011, 86 million shoppers participated in Black Friday, while 226 million participated in the entire weekend. In 2012, that number rose to 89 million shoppers on Black Friday, with 247 million participants over the weekend. Of those that participated in the actual day, 8.9 million were shopping by 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving day. In 2014, 25.6 million began their shopping on Thanksgiving day out of the 140.1 million that partook in the festivities that weekend. That was a lot of numbers, so let me break it down for you with two main points:
- Every year more and more people are participating in Black Friday.
- Every year the number of those starting Black Friday on Thursday increases.
In 2014, select stores began their Black Friday sales at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Many of the most popular Black Friday stops, like Walmart, Target, and most department stores, started their door busters at 6 p.m., spreading them out over the night and into the next day to avoid the swarm of people that have been known to be less than pleasant. Some stores, like JC Penney, are starting as early as 3 p.m. this year. This not only draws people away from their family to go shopping (which is their own choice, I understand), but it also takes workers away from their families to run these stores.
Part of the reason that these stores have started spreading out their sales is due to the violence that can occur as shoppers start to storm the building when doors open to the cornucopia of sales. Since 2006, there have been 7 deaths and 98 injuries as a result of Black Friday events. It may not seem like a lot over the span of eight years, but this is for one day of shopping. All of this violence for one day of deals, the day after (or the day of) a day of celebration for the things you already have.
If you would like more information about the statistics used, these are some great websites that give more details about them. There are some awesome graphics that really put the entire ordeal into perspective. As far as that goes, have a great Thanksgiving, and enjoy your time no matter how you choose to spend it.
http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/
