"Is Black Friday Really Worth Leaving Your House?"

[GetWebsiteOrDie]

Well, it's about that time of the year
when some of us kick down the doors
of the shopping mall to snatch up some
incredible bargains from the Black Friday ads
we clipped out of the newspapers.

Has Black Friday sales bonanza's really been worth it for you?

If so, do tell of your past bargains and Black Friday sales.
What is on your Black Friday shopping list?

[Tailslide]

What's Black Friday?

[felgall]

Black Friday is another name for Friday the thirteenth and the next one will be in June next year (the last one was in July this year). Judging from the comments of the original poster of this thread it also has some alternative meaning in the place where they live that is specific to that locality.

[HAWK]

I was thinking the same thing...

I'm guessing it's some kind of sale.

[spikeZ]

Black Friday is the day after American Thanksgiving and is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season in the United States.

So being English, Black Friday is like any normal Friday in the middle of winter - black

[GetWebsiteOrDie]

What's Black Friday?

The day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is often referred to as Black Friday. Black Friday is one of the major U.S. holiday shopping days when many U.S. consumers begin Christmas shopping.

The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit.

Retailers publish special sale ads on Thanksgiving day to get customers into their doors the following morning. "Doorbusters" and "Early Bird Specials" help lure customers in with heavy discounting on retail items. Lines often stretch around the block as customers jam parking lots waiting to snatch up the hot sale items of the year.

Black Friday is a shopping holiday that often translates into both an online and offline shopping experience. Many retailers publish the same ads online offering similar discounts with free shipping promotions to get customers onto a retailer's online shopping portal.

[GetWebsiteOrDie]

So being English, Black Friday is like any normal Friday in the middle of winter - black

Friday, November 23rd 2007. The day after Thanksgiving in the United States.

Future Black Friday Dates:
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 23, 2012
Friday, November 29, 2013

[Tailslide]

The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit.

That makes sense - thanks for the explanation!

It sounded like something horrible (similar to Black Thursday).

In the UK we don't get a lot of sales before Christmas (apart from certain stores that always claim to be having a sale) unless the store is in trouble. What you get over here is people spending a ton of money on Christmas presents only to find that the very same item is marked down massively on Boxing Day (26th Dec) which is when the Sales often start over here. As you can imagine this is particularly irritating for people on lower incomes struggling to buy their kids nice presents. It would be much much better if the sales started now!

[drhowarddrfine]

As an example of Black Friday sales. One of the fast food restaurants I own is in a major mall. We normally run with three employees during the lunch and dinner rushes. On that day, we will have seven working all day long.

[HAWK]

Whoa! That's a pretty huge jump in sales!

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

As an example of Black Friday sales. One of the fast food restaurants I own is in a major mall. We normally run with three employees during the lunch and dinner rushes. On that day, we will have seven working all day long.

I used to work in a video-rental store and we'd be fairly slow through-out the year and absolute chaos on the day before Christmas.

It's amazing how stuff like that works.

[Datura]

I never leave the house on that Friday, I avoid crowds. Yuck.

[drhowarddrfine]

Whoa! That's a pretty huge jump in sales!

Just like the retail stores. We're profitable there during the rest of the year but it's this holiday that makes it worthwhile.

Malls gouge you on rent and charge you for every little thing but do nothing in return. What they do should be illegal.

[HAWK]

Malls gouge you on rent and charge you for every little thing but do nothing in return. What they do should be illegal.

They bring you foot traffic, do they not?

[drhowarddrfine]

I have another store one block away in a little strip mall that makes double the profit of this one.

I just checked. The rent difference isn't as bad as I thought. $3000/month at the strip mall. $4800/month at the big mall.

[HAWK]

Out of curiosity then, how come you keep the store in the mall?

[Loco.m]

Out of curiosity then, how come you keep the store in the mall?

location location location
we'll be up early shopping for the deals

[Ted S]

Black Friday and the media invented Cyber Monday are definitely huge sales days in the US and there are a lot of deals worth your time. That said, I've got no interest in waking up at 2am (or staying up for an entire day) to find out I was one spot too far back in line. I do tend to shop on black Friday but in the afternoon, after the crazy crowds when the malls are actually fairly normal. There's a lot of deals to be had even if you don't get those "door busters" so why not do some shopping?

That said, I know a few people who camp out a day early to get the very best deals and they do save a lot of money. I suppose if I wanted a new tv or another big ticket item this quarter it would be worth it.

[drhowarddrfine]

Out of curiosity then, how come you keep the store in the mall?

A five year contract has something to do with it. Being only one block from a second store makes it less of a hassle than my others which are farther apart. It is profitable enough to make it worthwhile but this is the first store I've owned that wasn't in the top 20 in sales (out of 180 in my market).

Pressure from the franchise plays a part, too. I fought them for years about not putting one there but it finally came down to "If you don't do it, we'll get someone who will." I heard that for five years but this time they didn't say it with a smile.

[visoads]

yes you can get so many great deals at amazingly low prices, this would be an ideal week for shopping for christmas as well