Once the Thanksgiving turkey has been eaten and the leftovers put away, many people settle into their beds and prepare for the upcoming day of chaos and shopping – the day known as Black Friday.
Every year thousands of people battle the crowds on the day after Thanksgiving in order to reap the benefits of the nationwide sales.
However, according to Donald Bumpass, Sam Houston State Professor of Economics, in 2002 and 2004, Black Friday ranked second place in sales. Only in 2003 and 2005 did Black Friday actually reached first place. The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of both sales and customer traffic) has usually has been the Saturday before Christmas.
“Black Friday refers to the Friday after Thanksgiving as being the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate,” Bumpass said. “While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of customer traffic, in terms of actual sales volume, from 1993 through 2001 Black Friday was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day.”
Despite the chaos that is associated with Black Friday, thousands of people will wake up early, wait in line, and fight the crowds just to find that perfect gift at a reasonable price.
This Christmas season, the state of the economy is projected to affect the sales on the upcoming Black Friday. It is expected that sales will increase 1.2 percent, which is a huge decrease compared to last year’s eight percent sales rise.
Even with the economic downturn, at least one SHSU student showed no fear in battling the relentless crowds this Friday.
“I always go shopping the day after Thanksgivingit’s just the thing to do in my family,” Freshman Christian Simmons said. “It’s almost like a tradition in my family for the women to go shopping that day.”
Other students aren’t so optimistic.
“Sadly I’m having to work Black Friday, which I’m not looking forward to,” Freshman Kalyn Cavazos said. “It’s going to be absolute mayhem, and usually people start lining up around 2 or 3 a.m.”