Black Friday: History and Highlights

BLACK FRIDAY History and Highlights Every year, the day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Here is some of the history and highlights of the frantic shopping holiday known as Black Friday. Average Amount Spent Per Transaction On Black Friday since 2007 $380 172 $370 MILLION 212 SHOPPERS MILLION $360 SHOPPERS $350 147 195 MILLION SHOPPERS MILLION $340 SHOPPERS 2007 2008 2009 2010 Black Friday Timeline 1869 of Gold The Pr The New York Times and other newspapers originally coined "Black Friday" to describe the financial panic in the stock market this year in September. Photograph of the black board in the New York Gold Room, September 24, 1869, showing the collapse of the price of gold. 1924 1966 The Philadelphia police repurposed the phrase "Black Friday" to describe the rush of crowds at stores the day after Thanksgiving. 1990s Start of The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in NYC which is perhaps the largest advertisement for the start of the Holiday shopping season. "Black Friday" was coined as an unofficial retail holiday all over the country. In theory, the term came from the reference to many stores suppos- edly operating "in the red", or in debt during the year. ll 2002 Black Friday becomes the most profitable shopping day of the year, beating out the Saturday But once the Black Friday deals arrive, retailers reach the line where their debts are paid off and they start turning a before Christmas. profit... in the black! 2010 2008 Consumers set new records by spending $10.69 billion on Black Friday. SALE Top Online Retailers For 2010 Black Friday shopping turns deadly this year when a Wal-Mart employee is trampled to death in a stampede by Black Friday shoppers. Four others were also injured. 2011 Year of the Smartphone Shopper Percentage Of Purchases Made On Black Friday Via Mobile Shoppers 15%* 15% 10% 5.6% 5% - 4.4% 2009 2010 2011 *Predicted Something To Remember For 2011 Be sure to keep an eye out for pre-Black Friday sales from large retailers like Amazon.com in the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. SOURCES: coremetrics.com | blackfriday 2011.com | time.com | suite101.com | comscore.com | eweek.com PHOTOS: wikipedia.org | flickr.com Brought to you by CheapSally.com Best Buy Target Walmart Amazon