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Black Friday

Discussion in 'Politics & Religion' started by jrbiz, Nov 28, 2015.

  1. #1
    I sit here drinking my morning cup of tea and reading headlines about the violence and greed on display around the U.S. during the Black Friday proceedings and I shake my head in disgust. Granted, my wife, daughter, and son were all excited and went out to our local mall at midnight on Friday morning (I was fast asleep at the time), but even they came back disappointed at the crowds and craziness (though it was nothing like you see in the headlines at major cities with fights breaking out, etc.)

    I feel bad for the retail employees who are forced to give up their holidays to support this nonsense and take heart from the fact that TJX (a large retail holding company with brands like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.) has decided to not do the Black Friday schtick and let their employees enjoy Thanksgiving.

    I realize that it is called Black Friday because it is the day that many retail shops finally get into the black, profit-wise, for the year, but I also believe that they will still get the same amount of sales one way or the other during the holidays. I am also encouraged that we are now having Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and hope that the trend continues to de-emphasize Black Friday and possibly end it altogether.

    One article noted that Black Friday is also the busiest day for shoplifters, so perhaps the stores will recognize that this monster that they have created needs to be de-escalated for a variety of reasons. Cannot come soon enough for me.
     
    jrbiz, Nov 28, 2015 IP
  2. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #2
    My son is waiting gleefully for the cctv footage to be released on youtube. He finds the whole thing hilarious - including the irony that being thankful for what you have is promptly replaced by an undignified fight for what you don't have.
     
    sarahk, Nov 28, 2015 IP
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  3. Webcenter

    Webcenter Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I too believe this whole black friday is messed up.
     
    Webcenter, Nov 28, 2015 IP
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  4. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #4
    It doesn't bother me either way. I / my family never go shopping on black Friday. But let's say if I owned a chain store would I have black Friday sales? I probably would. If a business can significantly increase their bottom line (especially in one day!) it most definitely has to take advantage of it. Isn't it the ultimate goal of any business?

    On a different note. Here in the US we have way too many holidays. How in the world this country is even functioning when all we do is partying? It's crazy.
     
    qwikad.com, Nov 30, 2015 IP
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  5. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #5
    Actually, I am pretty sure that most studies show that U.S. workers have much less time off than their European counterparts. Germans, for example, take an average of six weeks' vacation time I have been told.
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
  6. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #6
    There's something like 10 Federal holidays + all other holidays. So, you pretty much get some time off each month of the year (or at least you could). Generally speaking, it's more beneficial to have fewer longer holidays than too many short ones. Here we have quite a number of short holidays that interrupt the natural flow of life for no apparent reason (well, except to get wasted).
     
    qwikad.com, Nov 30, 2015 IP
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  7. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #7
    And that's a bad thing??? :) Don't forget pigging out in addition to getting wasted... :D
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
  8. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #8
    Getting back to the topic...my point was that I don't believe, at the end of the year, that the stores actually get extra revenues as a result of the Black Friday craziness any more. I think that, pretty much, people are going to buy what they are going to buy, including any special deals or sales that spring up throughout the year. Yes, there may have been a surge in spending the first few Black Friday's because people spent more due to the novelty of it, but I think now it is not so much a novelty and people plan for it as part of their yearly shopping plans. So, stores could just have a big discount day or two any time around now and people would buy their stuff.

    Instead, we have a disgusting spectacle of greed, selfishness, etc., while retail employees cannot enjoy holiday time with the family (getting wasted and pigging out.) I believe that more and more stores will figure this out and opt out of the one-day craziness. Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are the first steps in that direction.
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
  9. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #9
    I'm with you on that one. The problem is that people are going to spend $X but where they spend it is up for grabs. So if a retailer doesn't want to lose market share they're obliged to go along with the craziness.
     
    sarahk, Nov 30, 2015 IP
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  10. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #10
    That, of course, is the tricky part. Glad that I am not in retail trying to deal with this... :)
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
  11. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #11
    Just saw this from a credible source:

    "Black Friday shopping this year pulled in $10.4 billion from Brick-and-mortar style retailers as opposed to last year's $11.6 billion. It seems as if the excitement of running-with-the-bulls-style-shopping has worn off with deals being the same or better the week before or even today online for Cyber Monday."

    So what do retailers do next year to grow revenues as their shareholders will ask them to do? Do they stretch out Black Friday to a week? Do they have multiple Black Friday's? Or do they double down and promote Black Friday even harder than they did this year? Will be interesting to watch.
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
  12. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #12
    Here down south our black Friday starts on Thursday night in some stores now. Yeah, I can almost see a little advert saying: "Starting on Monday - black Friday sales!"
     
    qwikad.com, Nov 30, 2015 IP
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  13. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #13
    There were complaints up here because the Massachusetts and Rhode Island "Blue" Laws prevent stores from opening on Thanksgiving, so all of the stores had to wait until 12:01am Friday to open. My wife and two kids were lined up at the local mall; I was fast asleep. :)

    And you need to sell that headline to a marketing guy at Target!
     
    jrbiz, Nov 30, 2015 IP
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