Well Thanksgiving is over and we all know what that means. Now begins the countdown to Christmas and the notorious shopping day known as Black Friday. Have you ever wondered where the term Black Friday came from and how long we have been celebrating this tradition?
Retailers have been marketing to the American people during the holiday season since the start of our economy. In 1924 Macy's introduced the Thanksgiving Day parade as a way to advertise and help draw in holiday sales. In response to strong motivation from retailers coming out of the great depression, in 1939 President Roosevelt actually moved Thanksgiving up a week to help retailers draw out the holiday season and maximize their profits.
The term Black Friday was not coined until the 60's however, and the term has come to mean that it was the first day of the year that the retailer finally operated in the black instead of the red. This no longer holds true as most retailers operate in the black for most of the year, otherwise they go the way of Boarders. Black Friday as we know it, did not really stick until the 1990's. Only since 2002 has Black Friday become the nations largest spending day, with the exception of 2004. (Source)
Retailers have been marketing to the American people during the holiday season since the start of our economy. In 1924 Macy's introduced the Thanksgiving Day parade as a way to advertise and help draw in holiday sales. In response to strong motivation from retailers coming out of the great depression, in 1939 President Roosevelt actually moved Thanksgiving up a week to help retailers draw out the holiday season and maximize their profits.
The term Black Friday was not coined until the 60's however, and the term has come to mean that it was the first day of the year that the retailer finally operated in the black instead of the red. This no longer holds true as most retailers operate in the black for most of the year, otherwise they go the way of Boarders. Black Friday as we know it, did not really stick until the 1990's. Only since 2002 has Black Friday become the nations largest spending day, with the exception of 2004. (Source)
I was not to surprised that the big retail stores opened early this year. Given the state of the economy it stands to reason that we are all clutching those purse strings tight. It is a given however, that people will be spending money on the holiday season. In 2010 consumers spent $36.4 Billion, yes read that as Billion with a B, on the Christmas Holiday season. (Source) Earlier than usual mass marketing from the big retailers suggests that they are going to be doing their best to get as many of our holiday dollars as possible. Being first to the marketplace is just one way of accomplishing that feat.
There were a few hold out stores that resisted the jump on the band wagon approach, with many customers and employees grateful for the reprieve. Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom did not put out Christmas decorations until the evening before Thanksgiving and decided to let their employees enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. Other retailers like Best Buy, Target and Walmart (just to name a few) opened their doors earlier on Thanksgiving, attempting to capitalize on the pre-Black Friday market with early door-buster sales offering insane deals in an effort to whip up a shopping frenzy to help you lighten your wallet and push you to spend where you might not otherwise.
With the billions of dollars that are spent on Black Friday, how big of an impact does it really have on our economy? Some will say it has a large impact citing that it allows retailers to create much needed jobs and creates a large injection of cash into the economy. Since retail represents approximately 1/5 of the nations economy, that is viewed as a great thing. Other viewpoints on the subject suggest that since the holiday shopping season is so short, it only temporarily provides jobs for 2-3 months, and its not our economy that we are actually helping. Most of what we buy is shipped from overseas from electronics to toys, clothing, tools and housewares. It begs the question are we actually helping increase other countries GDP (gross domestic product) and stimulate their economies instead of our own?
There is no simple answer to this question since all consumer spending is not created equal. As consumers we need to be aware of what we are buying and how to best retain our local dollars. When you eat a meal at a local restaurant more of your purchase stays in the community. The money spent will go towards food, labor, rent and profit. If you purchased a TV from a big name retailer the money that stays is minimal, the profit and a small amount for rent and customer service. The rest, or the gross, is shipped to the foreign manufacturer, stimulating foreign economy.
It is still important to support big retailers though. Although most of your money ends up overseas, some of it actually stays with the retailer and is translated into local jobs and tax revenue helping your state and city governments. After all, it is your neighbor that works at the store to sell you that shiny new big screen TV and it is another neighbor that drives the truck to deliver it. Your city receives tax revenue from those big companies, even though they use every available loophole, and that ultimately translates into city services.
I think that we need to do a better job of monitoring where we are spending our dollars. It is still ok and necessary to support big name retailers, but it is equally important to support your local small business and economy. Instead of spending ALL of your holiday dollars at mass retailer this year, decide to support your local economy, and purchase SOME of your holiday gifts from local vendors. You will allow for a larger portion of your holiday spending dollars to remain in your community, and help struggling neighboring business to stay afloat. Additionally since there is less tax breaks for smaller business, more much needed tax dollars are flowing to state and city government. You never know what kind of company they could grow to become. After all Ben & Jerry's, Microsoft, and Nike started out small, look at what we have helped them become!
xoxo
The Mrs.
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