The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, usually begins with swarms of holiday shoppers trying to get the best deal for their buck. The widely popular phenomenon of staying out all hours of the night, credit card in hand, scouring shelves for gifts happens every year without fail.
Now, most stores such as JCPenny, Best Buy, Walmart, Office Depot, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Belk, start their sale Thanksgiving Day. However, stores starting their sales on Black Friday, such as Academy Sports + Outdoors and Tractor Supply Company, are hard to find.
Online Walmart Black Friday deals start at 2:01 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, a new addition to its strategy.
Black Friday sale preview product guides line the display racks of these stores, so participants can plan their mad dash, catering to which items they want most.
According to techdirt.com, some newspapers are raising their price for the Thanksgiving paper, because they realize most people will get the paper only for the Black Friday advertisements.
Hannah Marxen, senior in human development and family studies, said she participates in Black Friday shopping with her sister.
“Just like from being a participant, I think it’s crazy how people behave,” Marxen said.
She also said it’s ridiculous Black Friday is the day right after Thanksgiving.
“I don’t think it should start on a holiday, and I think that should be respected,” Marxen said. “Just a sales person shouldn’t be needed on Thanksgiving.”
“Black Friday” was coined in the ‘60s when stores moved from red, indicating a loss, to black, indicating a profit, which kicked off the Christmas shopping season, according to BlackFriday.com.
Cyber Monday, another well-known shopping day, is the Monday after Thanksgiving where many online deals are available.
Marxen said she likes Cyber Monday better, because there aren’t any lines.
Kaylyn Bartley, sophomore in global studies in human sciences, said she doesn’t really participate in the peak of Black Friday mayhem. Bartley said she goes Friday evening after most of the crowd has already been, and she participates in Cyber Monday more.
Bartley said she thinks the idea of Black Friday is good, but the hype around it is too high.
“I mean there’s crazy like people breaking windows and doing ridiculous things to get good deals,” Bartley said.
With all the people pushing in lines, Black Friday can also be dangerous, according to BlackFridaydeathcount.com, which states seven deaths and 98 injuries have occurred during Black Friday sales since 2006.
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