Another Black Friday sales extravaganza passes, ushering in another maniacal holiday shopping season.
And, of course, what Black Friday sales storm would be complete without a little midnight madness, patron punch-outs and pepper spray fits of joy?
Black Friday is traditionally the day that retailers reach the black in their books, and kiss the red goodbye.
But, with companies needing to pull a Charlie Sheen and “win” out over competitors, the selling free-for-all is creeping TLC-like into Thanksgiving Thursday, which could be coined Brown Thursday.
Early results for the most recent sales frenzy have been overwhelmingly successful, with an estimated $52-billion in sales this year, which begs to ask the question: Will retailers open even earlier next year in an effort to top this year’s record profits? It’s possible that some industries will close early, or forego closing at all next year in order to beat the competition.
So far, reports this year place Best Buy as the big winner for 2011’s Black Friday.
The Huffington Post reported an estimated 9.1 percent sales increase when compared to 2010’s Black Friday sales numbers.
The Salt Lake City Tribune subsequently reports that online sales, topped off by Cyber Monday, reached $810 million, a full 26 percent more than last year.
Steven Colbert weighed in on the Colbert Report, calling this year’s Black Friday escapade a “category five consumicane,” and comically spliced a popular game and the the sales event together, coining the night “Call of Duty: Black Friday Ops.”
What will this do to the tradition of Thanksgiving? And, does it even matter any more? Tell us in the comments below.
evanbrenner.com 