-OPINION-
From a Walmart employee being trampled to death in 2008 to a dying man dropping to the floor while shoppers stepped over his body in 2011, Black Friday stories are some of the wildest to be told. While these stories made the news and circulated on social media, that’s not a fair representation of what Black Friday used to be like
Black Friday used to be an all-day long event that felt like a scavenger hunt, leaving you feeling like you hit the jackpot when you finally found the sale item you were looking for. It was something special. Granted, some people took it too far, but most of the time, people were civil and genuinely very helpful. Families would create game plans and map out which stores to hit first, assign certain items for each person to find and meet up, which further brought families together as opposed to sitting around at home looking at screens.
On top of that, sitting in line for hours for the doors to open, left plenty of time for people to talk and get to know each other. Then, once inside, it was a mad dash, and sometimes, those people, who were just strangers a few hours prior, became the people who helped you get the items you needed just by passing it to you.
However, since the pandemic in 2020, the adrenaline-inducing magic of Black Friday has faded off into a fraction of the fun it used to be.
Companies have struggled to recreate that same in-store shopping experience since COVID-19 closed stores back in 2020. Despite the pandemic ending, stores have kept things like curbside pickup and increased online shopping deals, which allows shoppers to avoid going into stores to do their shopping.
However, COVID-19 isn’t all at fault, stores like Bath and Body Works, Target, Walmart and BestBuy have extended their sales throughout the month of November instead of just Black Friday. Extending sales out so far as Nov. 1, completely defeats the purpose of having a sole day of deals to begin with. With sales throughout the month, the experience is lost and holiday shopping has become just another mundane task, rather than a fun adventure. Because of this and the fact that most of these deals are online, too, Black Friday feels more like Cyber Monday all month long.
Additionally, with the paced out sales, stores like Kendra Scott and LuluLemon have already been significantly busier. Just the other day I went to Kendra Scott because of a sale they were having and it was intense. For a small store that rarely has more than three people inside. It was a jarring experience to barely be able to walk around due to the amount of little girls and their mothers filling the store to capacity. These extended sales create an atmosphere of chaos for the entire month. This makes regular shopping trips more stressful than necessary, which could be prevented if Black Friday sales were limited to just one day like it used to be.
Stores should limit their online deals to Cyber Monday, as it would encourage people to do more of their shopping in-store, and go back to having their sales on the actual Black Friday. This would bring back the anticipation and the joy of going shopping to get all of those bargains. Not to mention, many physical stores have been closing down because people do so much online shopping, perhaps bringing back in-store Black Fridays like they used to be would help save physical business.
