Summary
Overview
A classic episode examining the history, economics, and cultural impact of Black Friday shopping in America. Josh and Chuck explore how this post-Thanksgiving shopping phenomenon evolved from a Philadelphia traffic nightmare into a manufactured retail event, while discussing the dark side of consumer culture including tragic incidents, worker exploitation, and the alternatives like Buy Nothing Day.
Origins and Evolution of Black Friday
The hosts trace Black Friday's roots from late 19th century department store parades featuring Santa Claus to its modern incarnation. The term 'Black Friday' actually originated in 1950s-60s Philadelphia, coined by frustrated police and city workers dealing with massive crowds converging for the Army-Navy game. Retailers later created a false origin story about stores 'going into the black' to give the day a more positive spin, transforming what was originally a complaint about chaos into America's biggest shopping day.
- Department stores like Macy's started the tradition of post-Thanksgiving shopping with parades featuring Santa Claus in late 19th/early 20th century
- The term 'Black Friday' originated in Philadelphia in the 1950s-60s from police and city workers dealing with massive crowds
- The story about retailers 'going into the black' is a manufactured myth created to rebrand the day positively
- Black Friday only became the actual busiest shopping day in 2004 - before that, it was the Saturday before Christmas
" It was literally created and then the myth kind of became reality. Just because they said everyone's going to shop today, it's the busiest day and it became that. "
The $602 Billion Holiday Shopping Season
Black Friday kicks off a crucial two-month period when American retailers make between 20-40% of their annual profits. The National Retail Federation predicted Americans would spend $602 billion during November-December 2013, with 53% of adults planning to shop on Black Friday specifically. This concentration of shopping has created an unsustainable model that retailers are now trying to extend by opening on Thanksgiving itself and creating additional shopping days like Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday.
- Americans were predicted to spend $602 billion in just November and December 2013
- Holiday shopping season accounts for 20-40% of retailers' annual profits
- 53% of American adults said they would shop on Black Friday in 2013
- Retailers invented Cyber Monday in 2005 and American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 to extend the shopping period
" Without Black Friday in America, the retailers would possibly make more money. So they've definitely painted themselves into a corner by making Black Friday such a thing. "
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