Black Friday is an ever shifting component of the ever evolving secular celebration of Christmas. Many loathe it — yet many more love it. Here we discuss the trends and the dynamics of Black Friday participation.

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There are No Heroes Among Retailers at Thanksgiving

The Black Friday mania is starting to ramp up as evidenced in this Sunday's newspapers coast-to-coast. Supposedly Christmas shoppers are cheering the blockbuster deals already. But no doubt you have seen percolating on social media the inevitable…
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Thanksgiving Shopping is the 21st Century Christmas

Don't kid yourself: if you thought the stores opening on Thanksgiving last year was horrible brace yourselves for even worse. Even though there was a huge outcry against malls and stores opening on Thanksgiving Day last year and even though…
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Retailers Starting to Avoid Thanksgiving Openings

In recent years the waters of Black Friday were significantly muddied by retailers pushing store openings to Thanksgiving Day. The move resulted in both a public and employee backlash who prefer Thanksgiving as a time for family and personal…
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Black Friday Fights for Relevance

We have reached another milestone in the countdown to Christmas: there are about 100 days left until Black Friday. For more than a century Black Friday has been viewed as an unofficial beginning to the Christmas shopping season. For all…
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Amazon Fires the First Shot of Christmas Selling 2015

Christmas in July is typically limited to Hallmark's new line of ornaments and QVC's heat-of-summer Christmas shows. But Amazon has quietly lobbed the first bomb in the annual fight for Christmas selling dominance. The online retailer will hold…
Frugal Christmas
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Can Cyber Monday Save Christmas for Retailers?

You might have noticed big lines in front of stores on Thanksgiving night. No doubt you saw all the traffic the "new Black Friday" hours created everywhere on Thursday evening. Maybe even you joined the frenzy and went shopping after a traditional…
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Realities of the New Black Friday

Christmas lands on December 25th. That is the constant -- the north star of retailing and the deadline on the mind of every Christmas shopper. In an age where confusion reigns of when to get the best deal and where to get it the simple…
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Which Stores are Open and Which are Closed on Thanksgiving

You are soon to be hit with a terrible choice. Will you side with those retailers who open on Thanksgiving Day or those who refuse to? More than anything else it may be your politics that make the choice for you. Seriously. If you’re conservative,…
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UPS Asks Retailers to Spread Out Last Minute Christmas Deals

UPS famously blew the delivery of Christmas to millions last year. And they think it is unfair for them to shoulder the blame. When gift givers purchased goodies from online retailers who "guaranteed" overnight delivery for last minute purchases…