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'''Black Friday''' is the day following [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving Day in the United States]], traditionally the beginning of the Christmas [[shopping]] season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to [[Boxing Day]] sales in many [[Commonwealth Nations]]. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,<ref name="holiday.icsc.org">{{cite web|url=http://holiday.icsc.org/2006/hw06_fullguide.pdf|title=Holiday Watch: Media Guide 2006 Holiday Facts and Figure|author=International Council of Shopping Centers|format=PDF}}; ShopperTrak, Press Release, [http://web.archive.org/web/20101129122823/http://shoppertrak.com/shoppertrak-reports-positive-response-early-holiday-promotions-boosts-projections-2010-holiday-seaso ShopperTrak Reports Positive Response to Early Holiday Promotions Boosts Projections for 2010 Holiday Season] (November 16, 2010).</ref> although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,<ref name="International Council of Shopping Centers">{{cite web|url=http://www.icsc.org/TopTen02.pdf|title=Daily Sales Comparison Top Ten Holiday Shopping Days (1996–2001)|author=International Council of Shopping Centers|format=PDF}}</ref> have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.<ref name="Albert R. Karr 1982 p. 30">''E.g.,'' Albert R. Karr, "Downtown Firms Aid Transit Systems To Promote Sales and Build Good Will," ''Wall St. J.,'' p. 6 (November 26, 1982); Associated Press, "Holiday Shoppers Jam U.S. Stores," ''The New York Times'', p. 30 (November 28, 1981).</ref> |
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'''Black Friday''' is the day following [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving Day in the United States]], traditionally the beginning of the Christmas [[shopping]] season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to [[Boxing Day]] sales in many [[Commonwealth Nations]]. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,<ref name="holiday.icsc.org">{{cite go home web|url=http://holiday.icsc.org/2006/hw06_fullguide.pdf|title=Holiday Watch: Media Guide 2006 Holiday Facts and Figure|author=International Council of Shopping Centers|format=PDF}}; ShopperTrak, Press Release, [http://web.archive.org/web/20101129122823/http://shoppertrak.com/shoppertrak-reports-positive-response-early-holiday-promotions-boosts-projections-2010-holiday-seaso ShopperTrak Reports Positive Response to Early Holiday Promotions Boosts Projections for 2010 Holiday Season] (November 16, 2010).</ref> although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,<ref name="International Council of Shopping Centers">{{cite web|url=http://www.icsc.org/TopTen02.pdf|title=Daily Sales Comparison Top Ten Holiday Shopping Days (1996–2001)|author=International Council of Shopping Centers|format=PDF}}</ref> have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.<ref name="Albert R. Karr 1982 p. 30">''E.g.,'' Albert R. Karr, "Downtown Firms Aid Transit Systems To Promote Sales and Build Good Will," ''Wall St. J.,'' p. 6 (November 26, 1982); Associated Press, "Holiday Shoppers Jam U.S. Stores," ''The New York Times'', p. 30 (November 28, 1981).</ref> |
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The day's name originated in [[Philadelphia]], where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.<ref name="Zimmer">[[Ben Zimmer]], [http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/3047/ The Origins of "Black Friday,"] ''Word Routes'' (November 25, 2011).</ref><ref name="linguistlist239">[http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0804D&L=ADS-L&P=R5955&I=-3 Martin L. Apfelbaum, Philadelphia's "Black Friday,"] ''American Philatelist'', vol. 69, no. 4, p. 239 (Jan. 1966).</ref> Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "[[wikt:In the black|in the black]]".<ref name="Zimmer"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/11/black-friday|title=Black Friday|author=[[Kevin Drum]]|date=November 26, 2010}}</ref> |
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The day's name originated in [[Philadelphia]], where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.<ref name="Zimmer">[[Ben Zimmer]], [http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/3047/ The Origins of "Black Friday,"] ''Word Routes'' (November 25, 2011).</ref><ref name="linguistlist239">[http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0804D&L=ADS-L&P=R5955&I=-3 Martin L. Apfelbaum, Philadelphia's "Black Friday,"] ''American Philatelist'', vol. 69, no. 4, p. 239 (Jan. 1966).</ref> Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "[[wikt:In the black|in the black]]".<ref name="Zimmer"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/11/black-friday|title=Black Friday|author=[[Kevin Drum]]|date=November 26, 2010}}</ref> |