Free tech support / small logo


Why is the day after Thanksgiving called "Black Friday"?

This is a random bit of trivia, but why the heck do they call the day after Thanksgiving "black friday"? Seems kinda racist to me, but I'm sure I am thinking about it wrong...


Dave's Answer:

You're right, you're thinking about it wrong.

There's nothing at all racist about Black Friday and it is indeed always the day immediately after Thanksgiving.

I think one big reason for this is that many people get the Thanksgiving weekend off in the United States of America, so that Friday (today, actually, as I'm writing this on November 27, 2009) is a day off and the perfect day to get a head start on Christmas shopping.

Why is it "black" Friday, though?

Because it's the biggest shopping day of the year (which is pretty amazing if you think about it) and the day that many retailers and manufacturers become profitable on their books, essentially switching from "red" debt on an annual Profit & Loss statement to "black" profit.

Simple enough once you think about it: red = debt, black = profit and Black Friday is the day that companies hopefully switch to being profitable for the calendar year. This also means that if a company does well on Black Friday that the revenues booked through the rest of the year are profit and ultimately are the profit margin of the corporation for the year.

black friday image
Shop! Shop! Shop! on Black Friday...

The following Monday has become known as Cyber Monday too, but as more and more people are moving online to shop anyway, I suspect that'll go away again in a few years. Oh, and worth mentioning is that there's a counter-culture Friday celebration called Buy Nothing Day.

Now, enough. Go shop, it's your civic duty. :-)









Subscribe!
Never miss another Q&A article! Click to subscribe: Add to Google Reader Add to My Yahoo! Subscribe in NewsGator RDF XML
Comments
Rather amazingly, there are no comments on this article yet.

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











Remember personal info?


Please note that I will never send you any unsolicited email. Ever.

While I'm at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.









Recent Entries


Search
I Need Help!
Need Help? Ask Dave Taylor!


© 2002 - 2012 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.

[whiteboard marker tray]
"Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.