As a child, you often dream about who you will become, what your career will be, and the family you will create. While many kids imagined themselves as firefighters, ballerinas, or doctors, I had visions of proving my strength by battling grown adults for a 97 inch 4K Smart TV on Black Friday.
I spent hours on YouTube watching videos like “Crazy Wal-Mart Black Friday fight for TV” and “lady steals from KID! black friday 2015.” Black Friday was once all about the spectacle, including camping in front of stores and the rowdy crowds. I patiently waited for the day I would be old enough to join in this holiday tradition, eager to bring back the best deals for my family, like a lioness returning to her pride. But now that I’m finally there, old enough and with enough gym hours behind me, Black Friday is not quite what it used to be.
The origins of Black Friday beganin in the 1950s. Philadelphia police first used the term to describe the chaotic scene that unfolded the day after Thanksgiving. On that day, hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists would flood the city ahead of the annual football game between the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, creating massive crowds and traffic. This surge in activity forced police to work long shifts, and they struggled to manage both the chaos and an increase in shoplifting. By 1961, the term “Black Friday” had gained traction in Philadelphia and remained largely regional until the late 1980s when retailers successfully redefined it as a symbol of financial success. They promoted the idea that Black Friday marked the day when stores finally moved from the “red” zone, operating at a loss, to the “black” zone, where stores made a profit.
Black Friday faced two major setbacks, one in 2005 and another in 2020. In 2005, the National Retail Federation invented “Cyber Monday” after noticing shoppers continued their holiday purchases online on the Monday after Black Friday. Gaining steady traction after its invention, Cyber Monday sales skyrocketed in 2010, surpassing $1 billion for the first time and solidifying it as the biggest online shopping day in the United States. This shift in consumer behavior weakened Black Friday’s grip on the holiday shopping season. Cyber Monday was a safer alternative, as Black Friday often included traffic accidents, trampling, stampedes and altercations. Between 2006 and 2018, 108 people were injured and 11 were killed. In that time, 11% of incidents happened in the parking lot, 20% at the door and 69% inside the store.
The second setback was in 2020, due to COVID-19. In 2019 there were 124 million in person shoppers and decreased by 25.6% in 2020, with only 92.3 million in person shoppers. However, the number of online shoppers increased exponentially, with 65.5 million in 2019 and 94.1 million in 2020.
The shift to online shopping means that retailers no longer need to attract people into a physical space to make a sale. Not only have many retailers opted for online sales over in person due to safety concerns, but they have also begun to spread their online deals out over the week after Black Friday, dubbed “Cyber Week.” The double edged sword of capitalism that created this holiday is also gutting it. Due to excess inventory, higher labor and supply chain costs and high inflation rates, many retailers are scaling back the quality of their deals. Discounts are typically in the range of 20% to 30%, with the best offers capping out around 50%, as opposed to the 60% to 80% off deals in the early 2000s.
As much as I would love to bring that 97 inch 4K Smart TV back to my family, the thrill of the hunt has faded, replaced by the reality of retail’s evolution. Black Friday no longer feels like the thrilling battle I imagined as a child, but in some ways, that’s a relief. Because, to be honest, I do not have enough gym hours behind me.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, Opinion Editor: Dakota Duran, Scene Editor: Elina Graham
