Article: Black Friday Is Dying, And That's A Good Thing

[Praying Colonel]

Every so often, you’ll see a can’t-pass-up deal on Black Friday. They still exist, but with Black Friday starting earlier, and consumers becoming more deal-savvy, there’s no need to spend a huge amount of time or effort staking out prices.

http://twocents.lifehacker.com/blac...t-s-a-good-thing-1743114275?rev=1447797109010

 

[loves to dive]

I'm proud to say in 58 years I have never, I mean not once in my entire life, shopped on black Friday. It is not worth saving a few bucks for me to get up at the crack of dawn and fight a crowd. Even back in the days when I was a single mom and a splurge was for me and my son to split a happy meal. The sales usually continue after that Friday and I never encouraged my son to have the attitude that he just had to have the toy of the month that everyone else had to have. I never pay retail for anything either, still don't even though I can afford it, I just don't do black Friday.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Maybe it's dying because people shop on thanksgiving now.

 

[amcnj]

Well if it is true that the day itself (Black Friday) is dying a bit, the overall experience is actually expanding. I have received countless emails these past few weeks touting Black Friday pricing and sales already. So overall it now seems to be spreading over a several week long period instead of one day.

 

[MarySwanson]

Online shopping has changed Black Friday for me, I can get the same, or even better deals online. I have almost all of my shopping done, and I've compared what I've spent to the BF ads and I wouldn't save anything camping out and fighting crowds on BF.
I do know that for many BF is a tradition, its not about the deals its about the atmosphere. I'm for the deals and if you know how to shop you don't need to go out on BF to get them. I think more and more people realize that now because you can shop 24/7 online, find things in a store that isn't in your area, check deal sites that list current deals and coupons etc. Black Friday is a thing of the past because when it comes to shopping for best prices, any day of the week can be like black friday if you have a computer.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Loath Black Friday. It reminds me of The Purge. I literally hide in my house the whole day.

 

[Moomduck1]

Black Friday was fun decades ago. Stores opened at maybe 7am at the earliest. It was fun to feel the hustle and bustle and start Christmas shopping. Go out to lunch with family or friends. But then stores opened earlier, deals became more cut throat and people became nastier. Lines got ridiculous. I used to like to go out and feel the holiday spirit, but again that was quite a few decades ago. Can't really feel the holiday spirit on Black Friday so I stopped going years ago. I can't think of anything I need/want bad enough to wait in a line for an hour to buy.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I love (the old) Black Friday and am sad to see it go. DW and I really looked forward to going and truth be told it was the only planned day every year that we got out of the house without any kids in tow. Now there are still some great deals but the timing of the whole thing that made it so great has been destroyed. We will still hit either Walmart, Toys r Us, or Target on Thanksgiving evening for our yearly "date night" but I'm not sure how much shopping is going to be done.

 

[powellrj]

I use to love to black friday shop years ago. I am talking the 1980's and 90's. All the stores gave out free things and we would base our shopping on who gave out the best free stuff.

Then in the beginning days of the internet before the bubble burst, they would have wonderful sales where they almost paid you to shop!

Then in the early 2000's they didn't give out free things anymore, but the bargains were worth going out for.

Its been years since there has been anything worth me going out to get and I do all my shopping on-line.

 

[Dakota731]

I think it's dying because of online shopping! But for me it's been a bonding experience with my adult daughter where we scope out the ads, do a little shopping and have lunch. I've never had a negative experience in fact the opposite. I've met and talked to other shoppers in line that I would never have done in a rushed every day store trip. We share stories and where to find the good buys. As long as people continue to come out and as long as stores are making money, Black Friday will continue.

 

[Julylady]

Black Friday was fun decades ago. Stores opened at maybe 7am at the earliest. It was fun to feel the hustle and bustle and start Christmas shopping. Go out to lunch with family or friends. But then stores opened earlier, deals became more cut throat and people became nastier. Lines got ridiculous. I used to like to go out and feel the holiday spirit, but again that was quite a few decades ago. Can't really feel the holiday spirit on Black Friday so I stopped going years ago. I can't think of anything I need/want bad enough to wait in a line for an hour to buy.

Same was true for my family. I would meet up with my Mom and sister and we would shop for the entire day stopping only for a nice lunch in the middle. My family spends the whole day together on Thanksgiving though so when the stores started opening earlier and earlier we had to rethink it. I remember one Black Friday morning where there was total gridlock in the mall parking lot. We did not move for 45 minutes. That was the year it stopped being fun. Then everything again changed when the mall opened on Thanksgiving evening. For the last two years we haven't done any black Friday shopping at all, except for Amazon on-line. Unfortunately, this year both my niece and sis in law have to leave the family Thanksgiving day gathering to be at work at 6pm. Sad. I have already done a fair amount of my Christmas shopping for this year....all of it on-line.

 

[antmaril]

Black Friday was fun decades ago. Stores opened at maybe 7am at the earliest. It was fun to feel the hustle and bustle and start Christmas shopping. Go out to lunch with family or friends. But then stores opened earlier, deals became more cut throat and people became nastier. Lines got ridiculous. I used to like to go out and feel the holiday spirit, but again that was quite a few decades ago. Can't really feel the holiday spirit on Black Friday so I stopped going years ago. I can't think of anything I need/want bad enough to wait in a line for an hour to buy.

I agree with you 100%. They ruined Black Friday. It used to be fun. Stores would open at 7:00 a.m. My son and I would get up early and do a little shopping, then have breakfast, followed by a little more shopping. It was very civilized and fun. We looked forward to it. Now 20 years later - forget it. I have no interest in any of it, including shopping on Thanksgiving.

 

[MomToOne]

I never was a Black Friday shopper per se - I'm not a big fan of crowds, or difficult parking, so even in the "good old days" of Black Friday it didn't appeal to me. In the last few years, I would get up early and head out about 5am on Friday morning (after the crazies have all trampled each other and left, before the stores got crowded for the day) and just hit a non-mall store or two like Kohl's. But I don't think I'll even be doing that this year.

Well....except for Home Depot. I will still get there before dawn to get my cheap Poinsettias! After that, DD and I will either make a nice breakfast at home or go out. Then we'll head back out mid-morning to pick out our Christmas tree. That's our Black Friday tradition - getting and putting up the Christmas tree.

 

[PrincessJo]

People in general are just rude and nasty now... not ALL of them, but enough that we stay home after Thanksgiving. All of my shopping is done before Thanksgiving and if it's not done and I can't get it online, you don't get it until your birthday.

PPs are absolutely right... it was different in the 80s and 90s. Our city has become so overcrowded now and the traffic is just so bad that i'm sick of seeing people get flipped off and screamed at in traffic. I'm done.

 

[Jing]

I loved working BF at Best Buy when I was in undergrad and grad school. Most fun in retail all year, though this was before Cyber Monday was established and when cell phones had coverage regions. I never shopped it, but I have much respect for the people who had the mission accomplished by 9am, just in time to meet up for a celebrarory breakfast with the family members who had been at Target, Toys R Us, etc.

 

[amylevan]

I have horrible memories of working at the mall on black friday back in the 90s. So for everyone who says people have gotten nastier, I think it's a case of selective memory. Trust me, they were just as nasty back in the 90s.

We go out now for atmosphere more than anything else. My parents are in for Thanksgiving, so my mom and I will go out to the mall and maybe a box store or 2 and do lunch. But my mom usually has her shopping done by the beginning of November and I'm almost done. But it has always been that way for us, even back in the day.

 

[NinaBella]

I think "Black Friday Dying" is a good thing. My reason is because I am seeing more and more videos of violence at stores. Yesterday there was a video that popped up on my news feed of a woman pulling another woman by her hair and slamming her to the floor because she thought this woman cut her in line (but she didn't, she was writing at the counter and the clerk called her back over to finish the transaction).

If it weren't for the mean spirited and violence, Black Friday use to be fun. It's no longer fun for the shoppers or the workers. So "Black Friday Dying" is a good thing. I think it can EVOLVE into something else. Perhaps it should be a weekly Friday sale from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve with random door busters, in hopes to spread the crowd out more. I think originally Black Friday was a way to boost sales and get the shopping season started. Many of us won't fight the crowd for a small discount. When I do go out for Black Friday it is to "crowd watch" and maybe pick up a few things here or there. I have never went out trying to get a large purchase on Black Friday just because it's not worth the headache.

 

[Dakota731]

Yesterday there was a video that popped up on my news feed of a woman pulling another woman by her hair and slamming her to the floor because she thought this woman cut her in line (but she didn't, she was writing at the counter and the clerk called her back over to finish the transaction).

If you saw this yesterday, then it didn't happen on Black Friday, so what do you propose doing shutting down stores every day? People are more rude and violent nowadays period just look at all the road rage incidents. We have more gadgets and conveniences which are supposed to make our lives easier and less stressful, yet we seem to more unhappy than ever. So not sure it has much to do with Black Friday at all more like a breakdown of our society in general.

 

[eliza61]

Maybe it's dying because people shop on thanksgiving now.

And that's actually the point of the article. It's like the "One day sale" phenomenon. Stores use to have true "One day sales" maybe once every quarter and there were actual deals. NOW department stores have them every single week. 50% of what you want is excluded and the rest isn't worth getting there for.

It use to be that black Friday was great for deals on electronics. Now with on line retailers and warehouse stores, I have yet to find any black friday deal that you couldn't get any other day. In fact last year walmart had a supposed "BF" deal on 55 inch tv's, only to find themselves in hot water because two weeks before Christmas, they marked down the tv lower than the bf sale. Yes people were able to go to the store and get a price adjustment but who wants the hassle.

I really find it hard to see how it's a "bonding" experience. lol, fight to find a parking space, push through massive crowds?? just me. better bonding experience, the women in my family are going up to NYC do a little window shopping and then going to see "Wicked" the play. got discount tickets for 55 bucks.

I agree with the article. black friday is a huge "marketing" strategy that is designed to give you a coupon high

 

[eliza61]

If you saw this yesterday, then it didn't happen on Black Friday, so what do you propose doing shutting down stores every day? People are more rude and violent nowadays period just look at all the road rage incidents. We have more gadgets and conveniences which are supposed to make our lives easier and less stressful, yet we seem to more unhappy than ever. So not sure it has much to do with Black Friday at all more like a breakdown of our society in general.

I saw an interesting piece on PBS Dakota that kind of explains that. We've got more gadgets and conveniences but they are all designed for "solo" users. So we as a society are now fostering an attitude of "MY needs" are paramount, cell phones have made us able to have private conversations now at all times, so the person in front of you trying to ring you up is no longer "human", our brain ignores them and if they interrupt us to perhaps finish up the transaction we're bothered. "how dare they interrupt our very important conversation". lol

If I can find it, I'll try to link. it was pretty interesting. lol I love the things people get grant money to study.