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Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday both died on Nov 28, 2013

December 5, 2013 by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Black Friday was notoriously the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. It was a cultural phenomenon that coerced otherwise sane Americans to line up in the cold predawn hours to wait for stores to open on the Friday after Thanksgiving. After fighting valiantly against the Internet interlopers, Black Friday succumbed last week at age of just 52 years.

Black Friday had a rather shady past. Most agree that Black Friday was born in the early 1960s. The name “black” was not a term of endearment. From its purported birthplace in Philadelphia, “black” was used as a negative term to describe the heavy and disruptive shopping traffic occurring the day after Thanksgiving.

“Black Friday” also held rather dubious connotations in retailing. For most of the year retail stores operate at a loss (red ink), and it is only by the fourth Friday of November that they turn a profit (black ink). Black Friday became synonymous with retailers so desperate to make sales, that they created a “fake holiday” disrupting the most intimate of American family gatherings, Thanksgiving Day.

In its heyday, Black Friday was a retail behemoth. At its zenith it generated the single largest day of retail sales. Retailers dreamed up the juiciest of promotions to entice consumers everywhere to brave pneumonia and door crashing throngs in the wee hours of Friday to get the best deal on items to fill Christmas shopping lists for ungrateful of relatives (who then return their gifts for cash on “Boxing up Day” December 26th). Black Friday became so well known that it spawned siblings in Canada, Mexico and the UK designed to spur retail traffic.

When Al Gore invented the Internet and Jobs launched the iPhone, Black Friday’s days were numbered. Black Friday has been on life support since consumers found out that they could buy the exact same items cheaper online, while they sat in front of their computer at work on Cyber Monday after the frustrating shopping weekend.

The ultimate irony is that it is NOT Amazon and the hordes of e-tailers that caused the premature death of Black Friday. It is in fact the traditional bricks and mortar retail stores that killed Black Friday themselves. Black Friday finally succumbed when Walmart, Target and a host of other desperate retailers started opening their stores at 6 pm on Black Friday Eve … Thanksgiving Day itself. Kmart is so desperate they in fact opened 6 am on this past Thursday.

Some say that Black Friday has become has been reborn as Black Thursday. But in reality black has faded to gray, with holiday sales now starting with Halloween in October. 

Thanksgiving Day (1863 – 2013)

The U.S. Thanksgiving Day had multiple births from multiple presidents. The official birth of the first American Thanksgiving Day was a proclamation by George Washington in November 1789. President Lincoln helped ensure that it became a national U.S. celebration by setting Thanksgiving as the last Thursday of November.

Even though the U.S. holiday was born with a purity of purpose to give thanks for blessings received, it became tarnished in recent years. In order to give the country an economic boost during the Great Depression, President Roosevelt moved up Thanksgiving Day in 1941 to the fourth Thursday of November to create more shopping days before Christmas. 

Thanksgiving received a special status when it was recognized as an official national U.S. holiday, with all banks, government and retail businesses closed. Families actually had a special day with no interruptions where they could gather and celebrate with friends. The masses truly took a day off and waited for stores to open with deals on Black Friday.

Perhaps we all should have seen the death of Thanksgiving Day coming. In order to garner even more shopping traffic, major retailers moved up store opening hours earlier and earlier … testing the limits to see if shoppers with Thanksgiving Day food-induced comas would rise at 4, 3 or even 2 a.m. to get the best deals.

On November 28, 2013 big box retailers made it official: Thanksgiving Day is Dead. It was not only Walmart, Target and Best Buy, but a host of other retailers opened their doors at 6 pm on Thanksgiving Day. Forget the turkey dinner and toasts with family … the most desperate retailers opened their doors before breakfast this past Thursday. Thanksgiving Day is no longer sacrosanct family time … it is now just another bargain-driven shopping day.

The cause of death for Thanksgiving Day is the same suspect as in the death of Black Friday. It is not Amazon and the Internet. The death of Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. was actually not even the retailers stretching their employee limits to open stores ever earlier and longer.

The death of Black Friday and Thanksgiving were caused by an ever growing systemic infection: You!

Ultimately, the death of both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday is an infection spreading everywhere from YOU the consumer. Today, consumers want choice … to shop any time and everywhere. Retail stores wouldn’t be open on Thanksgiving Day if consumers did not come. Conversely, if bricks and mortar stores aren’t legally open, you the consumer can find a fix by shopping online 24/7/365 … without having to break down retailer doors or scrum through piles of shoppers.

With consumer choice 24/7/365 now comes individual responsibility … to carve out your own life balance for family, friends … and giving thanks for all your blessings. That special Thanksgiving Day is gone. It no longer even marks the beginning of the holiday season, at least for shopping.

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