$$$ BLACK FRIDAY $$$

After a day of feast and floundering, residents will awaken on Friday morning to find the Nation in full holiday swing. Black Friday is a National phenomenon that finds normal and rational people dragging themselves from bed during the wee hours of the morning the day after Thanksgiving to power shop. Millions of Americans will line up in front of retail stores in hopes of scoring the “early bird” special, which are only available for a limited amount of time and are usually sold out before those not obsessed with the shopping fever have gotten out of bed. Though Black Friday did not find its name until the mid 1960’s, Americans have been engaging in power holiday shopping since the 1930’s. President Roosevelt even moved Thanksgiving up a week in the mid 1930’s to extend the holiday shopping season. The weeks preceding Christmas are the bread and butter of retail sales and most retailers embrace the opportunity to have multitudes flock to their stores. Encouraged by special discount prices, lines often extend for blocks and the rush to be the first in the door is evidenced by sometimes tragic results. The manic that often accompanies Black Friday is not new. In fact, it was that manic and congestion that labeled the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday. In the mid 1960’s , Police Officers that were charged with monitoring and controlling traffic on the day following Thanksgiving deemed the day Black Friday. The day of shopping has become a tradition for some, though the 2012 Retail Report suggests that Black Friday may soon be a thing of the past. The report predicts that, as more and more retailers bend to pressure to open on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday will become extinct. The addition of Cyber Monday has contributed to the pressure for retailers to open on Thanksgiving. As more and more people shop on line, physical retail stores take the financial hit. The Retail Report also outlines the difficulty for the mid line retail stores and the likelihood that those will be the ones that struggle the most during an economic downturn.