What the "Black" Really Means in "Black Friday"
The shopping day after Thanksgiving has come to be known as "Black Friday," referring to retailers getting back 'into the black' financially after offering huge discounts to shoppers as loss leaders, and opening their doors at 5:00 a.m. or even earlier. Thanksgiving, the day before Black Friday, stores were closed, as they are on Christmas. For many stores, such as large supermarket chains, these two holidays are the only ones during which they are closed. This year, I was surprised and a bit dismayed to see that many stores began their 'Black Friday' sales on Thursday--Thanksgiving day. And they were open for business, business and the bottom-line coming first, ahead of giving thanks and celebrating with family. I was curious to find out whether in this weak economy, retailers did as well as expected on Black Friday, so as soon as Shabbat was over, I headed over to my PC to see the stats. Instead, I discovered another year of violence, stolen purchase...