Black Friday Falters as Consumer Behaviors Change Hiroko Tabuchi and Nelson D. Schwartz - The New York Times
go to original November 27, 2015

Apps like Nifti and ShopSavvy can help you avoid the in-store crowds on Black Friday and still find the best deals. (The New York Times/new hour)

In 1939, the nation’s largest retailers sent Franklin D. Roosevelt an urgent plea. Thanksgiving fell on the last day of November that year, giving merchants too few days before Christmas to unleash the season’s sales.

The holiday might be a time-honored tradition, but wouldn’t Mr. Roosevelt consider moving the day up by a week?

The president’s acquiescence to retailers helped cement the pre-eminence of the post-Thanksgiving sales rush, now known as Black Friday. The day became an annual ritual, a family affair — a shopping orgy that delivered big profits for retailers, as well as a lift to the entire economy.

Seven decades later, Black Friday has lost its distinctive edge. Tens of millions of Americans will still hit the malls this Friday. But the relentless race for holiday dollars has blunted the day’s oomph, as stores offer deep discounts weeks before Thanksgiving and year-round deals in stores and online are causing sales fatigue. Some fed-up shoppers cheered this year when the outdoors retailer, REI, declared it was opting out of Black Friday sales altogether.

Retail sales on Cyber Monday have risen, but not nearly enough to offset the overall declines in Black Friday sales over the last couple of years.

On the eve of yet another Thanksgiving weekend, retail experts and economists are asking the question: Is Black Friday over?

Read the rest at The New York Times

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