Newmann: The color green
After all the hype and hoopla surrounding the big event, it’s finally here … Black Friday has arrived.
The name itself seems a bit malevolent. Not Happy Friday or Spendy Friday. But BLACK Friday. The black aspect of Friday conjures up images of witches’ covens. Or worse.
Speaking of worse, we’ve been subjected to days (even weeks) of pre-Black Friday “deals.” Seems like every retailer has been continually pummeling us with specially-priced merchandise that we cannot live without. So Black Friday, when it actually does show up, seems rather anticlimactic. How many pre-Black Friday bargains can you process before becoming almost immune to bargains? Or to Black Friday itself?
Back in the old days — when dinosaurs roamed the earth and online meant a clothesline — folks would happily celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday with their friends and relatives in a cheery and convivial way. And then, on Friday morning, they’d rush off to their favorite retail stores in the early morning hours to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving sales. The crowds would be jammed outside the stores hours before opening time and then, when the doors opened, would make a mad dash through the stores to claim their bargain booty. Lots of jostling, chaos and even fights (probably a few black eyes, too).
The retailers loved it.
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Stores that may have been marginally profitable — or perhaps running at a loss — would suddenly be financially out of the red. And into the black. And businesses that were already in the black? Well, even blacker. So … Black Friday.
Online shopping has eliminated the bumping, shoving and fisticuffs from the original Friday mayhem. And has also extended the timeline. The queue is now at your fingertips and the sales sites are ubiquitous. No one seems to be immune from announcing their “best sale of the year.” It’s a win-win for the retailers. They reach a huge target audience. And they don’t have to worry about mobs stampeding through their stores.
Over the course of time, Black Friday has spread to other realms around the globe including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, France and even the Philippines. Other international variants of Black Friday are China’s Singles Day, celebrated on Nov. 11, and Mexico’s El Buen Fin, which runs from Nov. 17-20.
Of course, the U.S. edition of Black Friday will be over Saturday. But, for anyone who either missed a deal or lives under a rock, Cyber Monday — which should start on Monday — actually kicks off Saturday. And will once again inundate folks with any number of supposed bargains.
If you fail to find your heart’s desire during these online adventures … well, you may receive a real-live present on Christmas Day that actually has some sentimental value.
As a last resort, there are always (oh, joy) the after-Christmas sales.
While the Black and Cyber days close out November with a frenetic fiscal flourish, they pale in comparison to the extravaganza that takes place earlier in the same month.
That event — preceded by months (even years) of promotional campaigns and unlimited spending — takes place on the first Tuesday of November.
But the choices — once selected — cannot easily be exchanged. Or returned.
Tom Newmann splits his time between Edwards and Queenstown, New Zealand. He has been going winter-to-winter since 1986. He was also a journalist in Missoula, Montana, at the Missoulian for quite a few years. Email him at tsnnz12@gmail.com.
