It’s 4 a.m. and I’m nursing a turkey hangover, but the chilled morning air is crisp with possibility. The line is long, and the Krispy Kremes are hot. The sound of Christmas carolers can be heard in the distance. Above me, the soft yellow glow of city streetlights mixes with the LED splash of a jumping fish. The mercury is in the 30s. I’ve got my texting gloves on and out goes the day’s first tweet: “First #BlackFriday stop of the morning at @Bass_Pro_Shops. Line is WAY longer this year. Let’s do this people!”
It’s my favorite day of the year. It’s Black Friday.
Originally named for the downtown Philadelphia traffic snarl and conventionally adopted by marketers as the single shopping day that can put a retailer back in the black, the day after Thanksgiving has become a shopping nirvana for retail mavens and discount divas alike. To me, it’s more than just discount TVs and $10 quesadilla makers – it’s a pure adrenaline rush akin to reporting breaking news. At Bass Pro, I made it from standing in a line of hundreds, to sitting in my car items in hand in 12 minutes flat – tying my 2013 record. Breaking news: I rock Black Friday shopping.
As much as I love Black Friday, I hate Gray Thursday; but maybe not for the reason you might think.
Though some retailers may have opened on Thanksgiving in years prior, in 2011, when the nation’s largest retailer decided to open it’s doors at 11 p.m. rather than midnight, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. turned the tables on holiday shopping. This year, such stores as Target and Kohl’s opened at 6 p.m., with online sales starting even earlier.
Let’s give the pumpkin pie time to settle first, people.
Prior to this year’s Gray Thursday, cable TV news and social media were abuzz with interviews and Internet memes about the people forced to work on Thanksgiving. Call me a scrooge or a capitalist pig, but I don’t see the problem. Yes, it would be nice to be with your family on the holidays, but that’s not a reality for many. The essentials always have worked on the holidays – doctors, nurses, police officers, gas station attendants, reporters – but many others work just so we can be comfortable or have fun, such as hotel workers, movie theater attendants, video store clerks and waiters.
I don’t dislike Gray Thursday because people have to work; I dislike it because it’s ruining my Black Friday.
According to the National Retail Federation, early holiday promotions and rising online shopping took a toll on in-store sales during the Thanksgiving weekend as shoppers on average spent 6.4 percent less than they did a year earlier. Total spending is estimated to have fallen 11 percent to $50.9 billion.
Retailers saw the BlackFriday numbers, and they wanted more. They got greedy, and it backfired.
My morning shopping at Target was in stark contrast to the whirlwind that was Bass Pro. By 7 a.m., I was one of just a handful of people inside the Branson store. The aisles were empty, and the mountain of giant TVs sat nearly untouched next to the ladies sock aisle. The cashier stood waiting as I walked up, no line to speak of. “It’s been slow all morning,” she said. “I guess people thought we sold out of everything yesterday.” Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
According to the NRF’s Thanksgiving Weekend Spending Survey, 86.9 million shoppers were in stores and online on Black Friday, and nearly one-third say they shopped on Thanksgiving Day.
I will never be one of them.
Three cities, 21 stores and 11 hours later, my Black Friday came to a close. It was fantastic, but it could have been so much more. As the Gray Thursday experiment continues to grow, the Black Friday crowds lessen and my adrenaline rush hits the brakes. I can only hope as the lackluster numbers roll in, retailers will realize opening in the gray isn’t as good as being in the black.
Springfield Business Journal Features Editor Emily Letterman can be reached at eletterman@sbj.net.
