Black Friday

Black Friday is the retail industry's name for the day after Thanksgiving, when department stores and retailers offer huge sales and deals. The day is called "black" because the retailers go "in the black," i.e., make a profit. In addition to being one of the busiest shopping days of the year, it marks the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season.

Initial sales results on 2008's Black Friday showed a 2% increase over 2007.http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/29/news/economy/holiday_shopping_sat/ In 2009, the number of shoppers on Black Friday was at 195 million, up from 172 million in 2008. However, the amount of spending was down, as it dropped to $343 in 2009 after the average customer spent $372 in 2008.http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=news&op=viewlive&sp_id=841

The four day Thanksgiving weekend allows many holiday shoppers the extra time to visit the stores, but the crowds can make the experience painful. There are some places around the Internet that can help shoppers organize their Black Friday lists and make their shopping trips less stressful. The website blackfriday.info has links to many major retailers and lists links to ads and sales for Black Friday.http://www.blackfriday.info/ A similar website, blackfriday.com, also has listing to Black Friday sales.http://blackfriday.com/

Mahalo also has pages for Black Friday Tips and on How to Organize Holiday Shopping. These pages can offer additional help for organizing a Black Friday shopping tip.