Post by April @ http://www.firsttimemomanddad.com
The Term “Black Friday” was first coined in 1869 to reference a financial crisis. The term was then adopted in Philadelphia in 1961 to describe the large amount of pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur the day after Thanksgiving. It was then revamped in 1975 to explain the day retailers began to turn a profit, thus going from being in the “red” to being in the “black.” Today, Black Friday is widely known around the world as the biggest shopping day of the year in the US. However, there is a new shopping day vying for that title, Black Thursday.
In 2011 Wal-Mart, in an attempt to one up the competition, opened its doors at 10pm Thanksgiving night. This decision to open Thursday evening made them the first major retailer to actually open its doors on Thanksgiving. This decision was met with both praise and criticism. Thanksgiving is after all a national non-secular holiday, nearly all businesses are closed to allow families to gather and spend the day eating and being thankful for the harvest.
Most other major retailers, afraid to breach the Thanksgiving Day holiday, maintained their “Midnight Madness” door buster sales. However, after Wal-mart’s ground breaking opening on Thanksgiving netted them both praise and profit, this year other major retailers will be joining in opening on Thursday evening as well. Gone is the full day of Thanksgiving with families. Black Thursday has officially staked its claim on the busiest shopping day of the year.
This new drive to beat the competitor by opening earlier and earlier begs to ask the question, when do we as the masses say enough is enough? When do we decide that rushing though our Thanksgiving dinners with our loved ones, to get in line for the deep holiday discounts of TV’s and toys is too much? At what hour will the retailers cross the line into family time?
Just because the stores are opening the doors at 8:00pm does not mean families will gather happily until 7:45pm. Traditionally the lines outside of the doors at the major retailers begin to form up to 3-6 hours early, in an attempt to get just one of the limited supply of deeply discounted merchandise. Personally I would be very offended if I spent the day cooking a wonderful dinner for my family, only to have to pack it up for the men to eat outside of Best Buy. I say enough is enough! It’s time to draw the line, and move Black Thursday back to Black Friday. Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for feasting with family, friends, not finding the best bargain.
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