Black Friday or Black Thursday?

Kennow/Personal Blog/Dec. 6

Black Friday or Black Thursday?

            On Thanksgiving of 2014, retail workers all around America left Thanksgiving dinner early to go to work. After eating as fast as they could and sharing as many memories as possible, they put on their game face and headed into the black Friday madness. Throughout the past few years, black Friday has slowly started earlier and earlier, but this year the majority of retailers decided to open their doors around 6pm on Thanksgiving Day. Some stayed open over 24 hours into the next day to ensure that shoppers had time to attend their sales. 

According to CNN Money, spending was up nearly 24% on Thanksgiving, and slipped about 7% on Black Friday, according to early Black Friday estimates from Shoppertrak, which monitors spending at and visits to brick-and-mortar retail stores. Shoppertrack also shared that Thanksgiving visits were up 27% on Thursday compared to 2013. Black Friday visits were down 5.6%. So what does this mean for the future of Black Friday and those who have to work it? This year and years before, retailers have began promotions and black Friday deals during the week leading up to the day. Every year the success of black Friday grows and it doesn’t seem as though it is going to stop any time soon. One plus to the early opening: most employees are paid time and a half for working during a major holiday.

The popularity of this shopping holiday is growing larger every year and new retailers participate every year. While this might be hard on retail employees and their families during the holidays, it does give provide a new kind of income for businesses and their employees.