With the cold weather and the holidays fast approaching, Black Friday remains in first place for the biggest sale of the year. With all of the changes 2020 brought, Black Friday changed forever. Many sales were restricted to online only and stores were closed to promote staying home during COVID. Is this change good or bad for the economy? And is Black Friday as we know it, ever going to make a comeback? 

COVID-19 has caused many problems for the retail industry as well as for the transportation and warehousing industry. Global shutdowns and shortages of workers has caused scarcity of some items, which can be detrimental to some businesses. Many companies rely on specializing on certain items, and the pandemic lead to the ceasing of production of some of these things like toys and games and various items of clothing. 

The origin of Black Friday is unknown. It can be traced to multiple events. The first occurred in 1869 with the gold stock market crash. According to “What’s the real origin of Black Friday?” by the History Channel, “Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.” During this time period, many companies identified their production as being “in the red” or “in the black.” “In the red” means that the company has gone a whole year while operating at a loss. “In the black” means that the company has earned a profit, which usually occurs on Black Friday when shoppers buy gifts for the holidays.  There are other stories behind it, all more absurd than the last.

Black Friday is an especially important event that precedes the busy holiday season. Many shoppers rely on this time to purchase gifts for loved ones.

Marissa Glass shopped during the day with family and friends. Glass says “The sales weren’t as good as they usually are in past years because the companies had had the sales for the whole week.” The companies now have sales that aren’t as beneficial to shoppers because it would be counterproductive to have a huge sale all week. If they did, these companies could run out of inventory and not have as many items left to sell during the holidays.

This new version of Black Friday gives shoppers the opportunity to shop throughout the week as well as online. This allows for an extended amount of time for people to spend money that goes back into the economy to help stabilize it. Although this isn’t the traditional holiday, shoppers know and love, it still can provide consumers with the sales and discounts they take advantage of for the upcoming holidays.

Whatever the origin, Black Friday has turned into a national holiday of sorts. It is a time to purchase gifts for the upcoming holiday season and to appreciate the quick availability of items to gift for the holidays.