Is it Black Friday Again?

It is November 9 and we are beyond Election Day. We are celebrating Veterans Day Weekend and the beginning of Black Friday advertising is already in full swing.

The reason it is called Black Friday is because retail chains expect to finally begin making positive strides in sales, leading up to Christmas and Chanukah, reflecting opportunities to recover from a loss, or red, position, held all year. Hence, BLACK Friday.

But it is not only for one day; instead, for many years it was the entire post-Thanksgiving weekend. Then, suddenly, the Monday after Thanksgiving became known as “Cyber Monday”.

Tuesday became “Giving Back Tuesday”, to remember our charities for the season. When, finally, the whole month of November was added to the game, the Saturday after Thanksgiving was branded as “Shop Local Saturday” to remember it wasn’t all about the mall and the internet (but it was).

Finally, a marketing genius figured that by the second weekend in December, sales were already beginning to slow down. So Black Friday II was born. And that whole weekend, additional sales and savings were created to entice the consumer to fork over even more dough.

All very clever. Yes?

Initially, retail establishments began to be open on Thanksgiving to get a “head start” to give us opportunities to save. But the public relations backlash became too great because employees were not able to spend the day celebrating with their families.

And many announced they were closed to “honor the holiday and family”. (What decent folk they are!)

To combat the lost day of sales, stores began opening very late on Thursday night or by midnight on Friday. And staying open until midnight Friday night. Then opening early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, staying open until late each night. For our “shopping convenience”.

Get ready to spend away your hard-earned money and get whatever you think you need to buy to make the people in your life have a happy and wonderful holiday season. And by February, as you are reviewing your bank and credit card statements, you will wonder what you spent your savings on.

And to soothe your emotional levels, happy, joyful, pleasing holiday music will be played as you mindlessly walk through the stores to “get you in the mood”. The smells of pine, bayberry, cinnamon and gingerbread will tickle your olfactory senses to remind you of your childhood as you pick out another sweater for someone special.

So get ready for Black Friday. It will be here and gone before you know it!

Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!