Has Black Friday become pointless?
Before I give my thoughts on this topic, I admit that I do not have a dog in this fight. I have never woke up early to be at a store at midnight after Thanksgiving, nor have I ever bought a large electronic device because it was on sale. When I worked at Borders, we would open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday, but no one ever showed up that early because our deals were pathetic. So my thoughts are more like ponderings.
In years past, I felt that Black Friday was getting out of hand. Like a new movie release, it was starting on Thursday, which was Thanksgiving, and totally wrong. People were getting injured to save money on stuff they wouldn’t buy if it weren’t a Black Friday sale. And then we had Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday if you had any shopping left to do after Black Friday. I agreed with REI and celebrated “No Shopping Day” on Black Friday.
Now it’s 2020, and thanks to COVID-19, Black Friday can’t happen with its traditional madness. So instead of canceling it, stores are making Black Friday last all of November. Walmart has signs directing you to Black Friday merchandise (mostly pallets of big-screen TVs), and TV and online ads for Target and other stores talk about Black Friday savings all month long.
Here is my question. Is it really Black Friday if it is a month-long sale? Even if you put certain items on sale at certain times and switch sale items throughout the month, is that really Black Friday? Why can’t we retire the overused and abused idea of Black Friday and develop a new way for stores to end the year in the black (which is why we call it Black Friday)?
Since we all have to wear masks and social distance, why not turn over a new shopping leaf. I don’t know what the answer is, but perhaps even I would be willing to go shopping if it wasn’t such a cutthroat activity.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong.