For millions of avid shoppers and fashionistas around the world, Black Friday is one of the biggest highlights of the year when it comes to retail therapy – it’s the time to get some serious Christmas shopping done and snap up some awesome to be had bargains. Fanatic shoppers and curious buyers bombard online and flagship stores to buy up everything on offer on and offline, but what’s funny is that this is all done before the last of the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner have been gobbled up; yes, it’s that time of year again…it’s Black Friday!
It’s the time of year when stores are packed and to some, this day of excessive buying marks one of the most important days of the year, so much so that to some it’s even a day off unless of course they work in retail. So, if Black Friday is almost worthy of its own official holiday, how did it all start?
Coined in the early 1960’s, the term we’ve grown to love ‘Black Friday’ marked the official beginning of the Christmas shopping period. Back in the day accounting records in stores were kept by hand. Two colors were used, the first being red and the latter black. Red, the color of blood and defeat represented a loss and the color black was considered to be a profit. Ever since Macy’s had its first ever Thanksgiving parade way back in 1924, the Friday after celebrating Thanksgiving in the US has become the start of a very busy holiday shopping season where people rush to the stores in a frenzy to see what they can buy at bargain prices.
In the late 60’s Philadelphia police complained about the jam packed streets of motorists and pedestrians immediately after Thanksgiving. To them it equated to chaos, so they aptly nicknamed the day “Black Friday.” These days the Special Forces are more prepared and man the streets waiting for crazy parents, fashion lovers and shopaholics to descend on the streets en masse.
Store owners wised up pretty fast to the shopping trends that were unfolding before them. They quickly realized that they were able to draw even bigger crowds by slashing prices dramatically. Black Friday grew in popularity and it quickly became the busiest shopping day of the year, much bigger than those last minute sales right before Christmas. Toys, electronics, clothes, and accessories are the goods that are drastically discounted. So now if you’re a smart shopper, you can get all your Christmas shopping done before the rest of the Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings have been finished off.
Black Friday is a long and exhausting day. Competitive retailers open the doors up as early as 5 am Friday morning to the masses of eager shoppers waiting anxiously outside. Stores have numerous clever ways of enticing the innocent shopper inside and a variety of savvy marketing techniques are used to get the hoards lining up at their doors. From offers posted online, to door buster deals, to ad scans, to last minute releases – retailers do it all in the bid to create a buzz.
But before you go out hitting the stores, you’ve got to make sure you look the part of the cool shopper. With your casual clothes, comfortable shoes and an awesome pair of vintage sunglasses, you’ll appear to be a serious shopper on a mission. And if you don’t have those cool vintage frames to help you play your role or appear incognito if your boss hasn’t given you a day off, make sure you hit Vint & York first to add the finishing touches to your ensemble – almost a whopping 135 million hit the shops on Black Friday, so you better brace yourself and be prepared and trust us, you’re going to need those cool oversized retro sunglasses to hide those tired eyes!
So, wherever you are in the world brace yourselves because if this is your first time experiencing the pleasures of Black Friday, you’re in for a real treat. It is by far the best shopping day of the year, so rejoice in that and shop till you drop!
