BlackFriday.com Staff
Updated January 4, 2021
A look back at how Black Friday began, how it’s become so popular and how much shoppers are spending.
For millions of people, Black Friday is the time to do some serious Christmas shopping — even before the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone! Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, and it’s one of the major shopping days of the year in the United States, falling anywhere between Nov. 23 and 29. In 2021, Black Friday falls on Nov. 26. While it’s not recognized as an official U.S. holiday, many employees have the day off, except those working in retail.
In which U.S. city did the term Black Friday originate?
The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia. In the 1960’s, police in Philadelphia griped about the congested streets, clogged with motorists and pedestrians, calling it “Black Friday.” In a non-retail sense, it also describes a financial crisis of 1869: a stock market catastrophe set off by gold spectators who tried and failed to corner the gold market, causing the market to collapse and stocks to plummet.
Why is it called Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” (in the retail sense) was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.
Why did Black Friday become so popular?
As retailers began to realize they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last-minute Christmas sales. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped-for items are electronics and popular toys, as these may be the most drastically discounted. However, prices are slashed on everything from home furnishings to apparel.
Black Friday is a long “day,” with many retailers traditionally opening up the afternoon of Thanksgiving to hordes of people waiting anxiously outside the windows. For those who don’t want to line up outside of stores,…
