Where I live, now, here in Ecuador, Thanksgiving is not a holiday.  There are businesses: restaurants, bakers, caterers who, with an eye to opportunity, offer Thanksgiving services: prepared turkeys, and pumpkin pies for the expat community but the traditional north American family meal, the disputed American myths, the day set aside for giving thanks, is not part of the Ecuadorian holiday tradition.

What is a part of the season is Black Friday.  I doubt anyone here, Ecuadorian or American, can explain the origins of this, now traditional, day of shopping referred to as Black Friday.

My research tells me that the name Black Friday originated in the 1950’s in Philadelphia. In those days, the downtown area would be overrun with people taking advantage of the long weekend to shop ahead of the Christmas rush. These people would crowd the streets admiring the decorations and anticipating the important Army/Navy game scheduled for the Saturday.  In the beginning, the term “black” was not a positive one. Instead of referring to the day retailers made their yearly profit, i.e. going into the black instead of the red, (the explanation I was taught).  The term was originally coined by the police to describe “the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrians and auto traffic in downtown Philadelphia.”

From this negative image, Black Friday was cleverly rebranded, to become a celebration of sales and consumerism. Today, seventy years on, shoppers tripping over each other to snag a deal on a television is a dubious tradition.  According to PC magazine, 74 percent of consumers plan to shop during the American Thanksgiving weekend.

But I am not in America, I am in Latin America and, as I walk the streets of my current hometown. I see Black Friday prices for everything from refrigerators to underwear.  Interestingly, this insistent call to buy is not even confined to the Friday after the holiday, the “sales” began a week in advance.

Does your business take advantage of this Friday shopping frenzy?  Do you find it works for you?  Are your sales significantly higher?  I would like to know how you plan to maximize the retail opportunity of Black Friday.