Black Friday Ads

[Lady Fury]

For anyone who is interested the Black Friday (http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/) Ads are up. I usually don't like to go out but this year I have to since money is tight and I want the kids to have gifts under the tree.

[Morbidity]

Why is the Friday after Thanksgiving called Black Friday?

Black Friday for me refers to a day when half of Victoria burnt down with significant loss of life.

[Droid101]

For anyone who is interested the Black Friday (http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/) Ads are up. I usually don't like to go out but this year I have to since money is tight and I want the kids to have gifts under the tree.

I have never left my house on a Black Friday before. Everywhere is a zoo and I'll have no part of it.

Now, if more places start doing online Black Friday deals, I'll surely peruse those.

[Enk]

Why is the Friday after Thanksgiving called Black Friday?

Black Friday for me refers to a day when half of Victoria burnt down with significant loss of life.

Used to be that it was the day of the year in which most retailers were finally in the black. Not so sure if that's true now.

[Janos]

Now, if more places start doing online Black Friday deals, I'll surely peruse those.

Every online retailer I'm aware of has been doing Black Friday ads for years. There are a couple of dozen going on already this year.

Also, I can't recommend www.slickdeals.net enough. They're the source for shopping ads adn taking advantage of Black Friday if you plan to do so.

[Pigs in Space]

So... "black friday" is a good thing?



You people are messed up.

[Droid101]

So... "black friday" is a good thing?



I don't think so.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/wal-mart-worker-dies-in-black-friday-stampede-1.884298

Wal-Mart worker dies in Black Friday stampede

A stampede of shoppers in a Valley Stream Wal-Mart on Friday morning left one worker dead and at least three patrons injured after an impatient crowd broke down the store doors and trampled the seasonal employee, Nassau police said.
Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, was pushed to the ground by the 2,000-plus crowd just before 5 a.m. as management was preparing to open the store, which is located across from the main Green Acres Mall building. Hundreds stepped over, around and on the 34-year-old worker as they rushed into the store.
"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau Police Det. Lt. Michael Fleming, whose squad is investigating.
"Nobody was trying to help him," said shopper Nakea Augustine, who was in the line. "They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing."
During the fracas, first-responders struggled to reach Damour to tend to him, witnesses said. Even the first police officers on the scene were jostled around, police said.
"It was chaos," said Kimberly Cribbs of Far Rockaway, who was in line and entered the store as Damour was being attended to.
Damour, who was a maintenance worker and was helping with the opening of the store, was pronounced dead just after 6 a.m. His cause of death remained undetermined as of last night pending an autopsy, police said.
At least three other shoppers also suffered minor injuries, police said. Another shopper, 28, who is eight months pregnant, was hospitalized for observation and was doing well.
As part of its Black Friday promotion, Wal-Mart had advertised sales like a Polaroid 42-inch LCD HDTV for $598 and a DVD of "Rush Hour 2" for $2 - prices valid only from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday morning.
The incident came on the same day that a Huntington woman reported being accidentally shoved when early bird shoppers rushed into a Farmingdale Wal-Mart.
Amid the chaos in Valley Stream, shoppers were asked to leave by other store workers, some of them crying, said Cribbs. Others ignored the pleas that they stop shopping, move to the front of the store and exit, she said. "They kept shopping. It's not right," Cribbs said.
The incident began when people who had gathered well before 5 a.m. in the rear of the line began pushing, cascading the people in the front into the sliding supermarket-type doors, which were literally knocked off their hinges, Fleming said.
Augustine, 26, said the melee began right after a Wal-Mart employee told the crowd the store would open early. The employee then said it was a joke. This angered the crowd, leading to people trying to rush the store, Augustine said.
Frightened employees initially used the doors as makeshift shields to defend against the onslaught of shoppers, she said.
At that point, lots of people were on the ground, she said, not just Damour.
Authorities said Damour, who died at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream, was working at the store through an employment agency that contracts with the retail giant.
Fleming did not rule out criminal charges in the case. He said the incident was foreseeable and said the store did not have enough security given the large crowds.
Wal-Mart defended its security, a store executive said in a statement on Friday. The chain says it hired additional security personnel, staffed the store with more employees, and erected barricades, said Hank Mullany, president of the company's Northeast division.
"Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred," Mullany said.
Jim Carver, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the police department should have planned better and specifically assigned more officers to patrol high-traffic shopping areas, like the Green Acres Mall area.
Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a department spokesman, said there were about a half-dozen cops assigned to patrol the mall area that night. He added it's the job of the stores, not the department, to provide store security.
The store was closed for hours after the incident as authorities investigated

[Name Lips]

It's the day when traditionally retailers start showing a profit for the year. So instead of being "in the red" meaning they've been losing money, they're now "in the black."

It's the biggest shopping day of the year, when traditionally people go out to begin their Christmas shopping. Retailers caught on and started holding big sales and specials to attract the crowd. It's a madhouse at stores like WalMart (I worked the Black Friday opening at WalMart once. INSANE. I saw a guy balancing 3 big screen TVs in his cart because they were $200 off the regular price. Most of the specials were sold out within 20 minutes of opening. The lines were crazy.

[DarwinOfMind]

So... "black friday" is a good thing?



You people are messed up.
In accounting you write positive numbers in black, and negative numbers in red. So to be in the black is to have a positive balance. So the day that pushes you over the edge to get a positive balance is Black Friday.

[Morbidity]

In accounting you write positive numbers in black, and negative numbers in red. So to be in the black is to have a positive balance. So the day that pushes you over the edge to get a positive balance is Black Friday.
I get it ... it's just weird. As I said for us "black"+weekday generally = national disaster of some kind.

Both Black Friday and Black Saturday are associated with massive bushfires and deaths.

Are these guys working on a calendar year or a 30 June year end. If it's a calendar year and they have to wait to November to be in the black then profits must be low in the US.

[Pigs in Space]

I get it ... it's just weird. As I said for us "black"+weekday generally = national disaster of some kind.

Both Black Friday and Black Saturday are associated with massive bushfires and deaths.

Are these guys working on a calendar year or a 30 June year end. If it's a calendar year and they have to wait to November to be in the black then profits must be low in the US.

Don't Americans end their financial year in April or something?

Just when you thought you were beginning to understand the yanks, eh?

[Droid101]

Don't Americans end their financial year in April or something?

Just when you thought you were beginning to understand the yanks, eh?

WE DEFY UNDERSTANDING OR MAKING SENSE!1!one!

[Dacke]

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29), the term was originally related to the horrendous traffic situation on that day, starting in the mid-60s and becoming popularized in the mid-70s. Apparently retailers didn't like the negative connotations, and started using the accounting thing as an excuse instead.

Most retailers make profit all year round, especially bigger ones like Wal-Mart, but some are so dependent on Christmas shopping that they need it to be in the black.

[Freedom Canadian]

In accounting you write positive numbers in black, and negative numbers in red. So to be in the black is to have a positive balance. So the day that pushes you over the edge to get a positive balance is Black Friday.

In accounting, setting a date of the year where you start making profits like that is nonsensical because of the matching principle.

[Harry]

I've never understood "Black Friday", from a retailers POV. When I was in regular retail, we never used the term. Not once in a while, not in sly reference in meetings - never. And for that matter, the idea that "Black Friday" is make-or-break for a business is nuts. The Friday after Thanksgiving was never the single biggest day of the year for any "mall retail" type business I was in. The biggest day was always the day before Christmas Eve. The next biggest was Christmas Eve. After that, the day after Christmas and the day after Thanksgiving, or a really big new release day.

The business I'm in now, it's the day before Thanksgiving, the day before Easter, and the day before Christmas. All three pretty equal. Several others are almost as big.

[Dawnstar]

I never thought that Black Friday was a do or die for any retailer. I thought it was a day that the stores picked some attention grabbing loss leaders to bring people into their stores.

I personally have been shopping Black Friday for the past 4 or 5 years and in my opinion it is well worth it. I spend a certain amount of money and walk away with two or three times the amount I would be able to get for the same amount of money on a regular day.

[Lady Fury]

I did very well this morning. I was at the store at 3am and my sister brought her 16yr old son to help as well. I managed to get nearly everything that was on their door buster ad. It was crazy. They had 20 cops throughout the store to keep order and I managed to convince all the shoppers next me waiting for those cheap Wii games to throw them all into my cart and then I'd hand them out so no one has to push to get into the area. I got all the games I wanted and the people who helped me got what they wanted as well. My sister made out the best. She had 2 tvs on her list to buy and managed to get both with the help of her son. Then we rushed over to Home Depot to get the shopvacs for $20 bucks. We were all done before 6:30am. I am still exhausted and driving back to Pullman today really sucked but I made it and now I have to go to work. Hopefully I can get my stuff done fast so I can come back home and be a bum the rest of the night.

[shiningbrow]

LF, you have remarkable stamina, given all you've been through, I'd have thought you'd be exhausted and sleeping in over the holiday. Your middle of the night shopping antics really impressed me, first, because you know how to stretch your money and also because you are willing to go to almost any lengths to be sure your kids are happy and well cared for. I salute you and wish I could have been along for the adventure!

[Lady Fury]

LF, you have remarkable stamina, given all you've been through, I'd have thought you'd be exhausted and sleeping in over the holiday. Your middle of the night shopping antics really impressed me, first, because you know how to stretch your money and also because you are willing to go to almost any lengths to be sure your kids are happy and well cared for. I salute you and wish I could have been along for the adventure!


That's the reason why I do it. My kids keep me going and I am just as happy to see them happy as they are to see me happy. I got a nap in today then I went to work and got my stuff done. Now I get a reward, no kids all day tomorrow and night. My mother in law is taking all 4 of them. Woohoo!

As for the stamina, it comes and go but lately it's been sticking around longer. I really think I've turned a corner with my health situation and it feels wonderful!