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Is "Black Friday" Gone Forever?

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It's official - Holiday shopping is here!! Malls have decked their halls, retailers are playing one of over a hundred versions of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", and the retail heavyweights are announcing their "Black Friday" plans....errr dare I say "Black Thursday"?!  WalMart confirmed their earliest Black Friday specials won't be found on Friday at all, but at 6pm on Thanksgiving day, with many others following at 8pm.

For me, this will mark my 20th retail holiday season.  Watching how this time has evolved through the years has been very interesting.  When I started, I thought people would eat their Thanksgiving dinners early so they could induce their tryptophan coma early enough to wake up in time for the early bird specials - at 6am Friday morning.  Then online shopping offered an alternative to risking your life in the malls for shopping safely from your couch - now we have "Cyber Monday" (insiders tip - most retailers still post their best online specials on Friday!) And now, Black Friday has steadily crept into Thursday as retailers open earlier and earlier to capture as many sales as possible.  Competition has made this almost ridiculous, and at this current pace of corporate one-upsmanship,by 2020, we will be announcing Black Friday sometime around Halloween.

Now, if you have read my blog, you know I am a huge advocate of competition and doing whatever it takes to capture your customers.  But, in this case, I believe the retail industry has fallen into a trap that doesn't appear to have a point of return.  While I don't have hard numbers to share, I can say that Black Friday remains as the largest shopping day of the year, but it is the weekend that follows that no longer seems to be much more than a normal busy Saturday and Sunday.  Adding hours on the front end of Friday, seems to be killing the sales on the back end.  

Thanksgiving starts the holiday shopping season as the holiday filled with humanity - family, friends, food, and charity are all things that get people in the "spirit" of the holiday season.  Taking away from that day is a slippery slope that I think will take a monumental stand by one of retails largest heavyweights to course correct.  I believe a company like Macy's is the perfect company that should do this.  They are one of the most symbolic retailers of the holiday season.  A simple corporate statement could have a profound impact on the retail landscape for the holidays, and it would read something like this -

At this time of year we realize the importance of the relationships we share with those around us.  The holiday season is meant to spread joy and kindness to everyone, and that starts in the home with our families and loved ones.  That is why this year, we insist you spend your Thanksgiving holiday with those most special to you, as we do the same.  We will open our doors early at 5am on Friday and will offer the same great savings on the gifts you want most,  but don't fret if you are not an early bird as we will continue to offer many specials throughout the weekend.  From our family to yours - Happy Holidays
The chances of someone taking this leap are probably pretty slim.  I do believe though, that the response would be overwhelmingly positive.  Until then, i would not be surprised to see Thanksgiving eliminated as a "day-off" in the retail industry, as malls are not far off from simply opening altogether on that Thursday.




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