Sale Away on Gray Thursday

I'll be the first to admit, I love a great sale as much as the next person. Who doesn't love getting something they want, or need, at a lower price than what they'd normally pay?

Granted, stores are still making a profit, even at sale prices, but hey, *I'm* paying less than retail, so it's a good feeling knowing that.

No matter the type of store, or where it's located, all of them have sales on a regular basis, whether it's daily, weekly, or monthly; there's always someone offering something for less than retail price.

Then there are the special sales, in addition to the regular ones.  The special ones usually revolve around holidays, or special events.  President's Day, Memorial Day, the Super Bowl, etc.; all are cause for retailers to have blowout prices on items consumers are wanting, or needing.

One of the biggest special sale days is the Friday after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as "Black Friday".

Ah yes, "Black Friday", the day people are up before the sun, and out standing in endless lines for a chance at getting that great bargain.  When did all this craziness become the norm?

Actually, upon research, "Black Friday" was a term used in Philadelphia in the early sixties to describe the throngs of people out and about the day after Thanksgiving.  By 1975, the term had been adopted across the country, and adapted to describe shoppers.

For nearly three decades stores catered to shoppers on this infamous Friday, opening their stores as early as 6:00 am, allowing those early birds an opportunity at big savings.  Then after a few years, the times got earlier.  Some stores began opening at 5 am, in hopes of garnering more customers eager to start their holiday shopping.

The beginning of a new century though, brought a new tradition: stores not opening early on Friday morning, but instead, late on Thanksgiving evening.  At first stores, like Wal-Mart, and Best Buy, advertised they'd be opening at 10 pm Thanksgiving for "Black Friday" savings.

At the time, I didn't see a problem with this.  Yes, there were employees that probably weren't happy about having to work on a holiday, I understand that.  For the most part though, the "traditions" of Thanksgiving usually wrap up in the early evening.  Friends and family have spent time together, then gone their separate ways, so why not go stand in a line for a store to open at 10 pm, especially if there's something you want, at a great price?

More recently however, things have been getting out of hand.  No longer are shoppers getting in the "holiday spirit".  Instead, they're trying to one up other shoppers to get what they want.  Every year there are stories from across the nation of fights, shootings, stabbings, you name it, all because people just have to have something others want also.  This makes one wonder if it really is worth standing in line for any kind of a deal.  After all, is it really worth the possibility of getting hurt, or possibly even killed, just for a bargain?

One would also think that retailers would be concerned about these incidences, and want to curtail them if possible.  Yet, every year, the retailers seem to start their sales just that much earlier than the year before.  Anymore, it's really not a "Black Friday" sale, as much as it's become a "Gray Thursday" sale.

This year, there are stores that are actually opening early on Thanksgiving morning, then again Thanksgiving evening. Instead of opening at 5 am on Friday, some stores will be opening at 5pm Thursday evening, to get a jump on the holiday rush.

As I stated earlier, I understand that there are those who don't celebrate the holidays, so for them, it's nice to have stores open, especially if they're offering exceptional savings.  Really though, are retailers actually gaining that much more by opening so early?  If they're so concerned about sales, why don't they just stay open their normal hours, and still offer the great savings?

Several stores have bypassed the actual Black Friday sale completely, opting instead to offer sales for a week, or more, before Thanksgiving. I've heard commercials describing "Blue Friday", "White Wednesday", and other names, that are really just different ways to get around having a sale for only one day.

You've probably noticed that I'm not a big fan of all these crazy hours and days that are being set for after, (and nowadays before), Thanksgiving sales; it's true.  While the bargains may be good, the whole idea of Black Friday has become so diluted, and so competitive, for me at least, it just isn't fun anymore. What I like even less however are the policies some stores have adopted in conjunction with their Black Friday sales.

We've all seen signs at stores stating, "no loitering", "no parking", etc.; as an attempt to keep people from just hanging out at the store and not buying anything.  Yet, there are retailers, most notably Best Buy, who, despite not allowing this behavior normally, have no problem with letting people camp out in front of their stores, sometimes as early as before Halloween, just for their Black Friday sale.  Why?!

Not only does that seem very extreme, it questions whether these people actually have lives. One man in Florida, his wife, and a friend are currently camped out at a Best Buy, and have been for at least a couple weeks now.  They work, so they've been taking turns camping out at the Best Buy, so they can go to their jobs.

I think what bothers me the most about this however, is the double standard tone this sets.  Obviously if someone is just hanging around a store, or if someone is homeless, and tries to camp out even in the parking lot, they're told it's not allowed, and there's signs posted to prove it.  But someone does the same thing, because they want to spend money at the store, it's okay for them to camp out for days and days.  In other words, spend money, you can stay, don't, you can't be there.

Yes, as much as I like great sales and bargains, I have my limits. It seems weird to say that commercialism is getting even more commercialized, but it's true.  Black Friday is a great example of this.  What started as a one day event, has been blown into something that's dragged out for days on end, before and after Thanksgiving.  In some cases it seems Black Friday has become more of an anticipated "holiday" than Thanksgiving itself.

Just my opinion, but it would be nice to just get back to the basics of Black Friday.  It happens on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and only that day.  If retailers want to get crazy with their sales, why not open your doors from midnight that Friday, to 11:59 pm that same day?  And with today's technology, these same retailers can do the same thing on the internet, for those who can't, or don't want to actually go to a store.  Seems logical to me, shoppers still get great deals, and retailers are still making huge revenues.

Again, just my take on this subject.  I'll end this post with a wish for a Happy Thanksgiving to all; as well as safety for all those braving the "Gray Thursday", "Black Friday", mayhem that's sure to happen somewhere.