“Mommy, why didn’t I get what I wanted for Thanksgiving this year?” This question seems absurd in a modern-day context, but in the future, it could be a question that is asked much too often. With holiday-themed advertisements in the media and holiday discount deals already visible on the shelves, it is no wonder that Black Friday and the holiday shopping season are creeping up closer and closer to Thanksgiving. Black Friday is a popular phrase used to describe the chaotic shopping frenzy that takes place every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. In recent years, the chaos of this so-called “holiday” has only escalated; consumers are trampling one another to get the best deals, and retailers are scrambling to keep up with their competitors. However, this year, many large department stores in the United States are opening their doors on Thanksgiving day in preparation for Black Friday (Zilman). This unprecedented event brings light to a startling change in American society. Black Friday’s inevitable takeover of Thanksgiving will ruin the holiday itself and negatively impact traditional familial values because it will force Americans to embrace materialism in place of graciousness.
Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday dating back to colonial times. The commonly-known First Thanksgiving is a story that all American children learn. The Native Americans teach the Pilgrims to grow food to last the winter. At the end of the harvest, the Pilgrims and Native Americans come together to celebrate and give thanks for the friendship they have and for all of the blessings they have received. Modern Thanksgiving, although based off of the First Thanksgiving, has evolved considerably. It is traditionally celebrated by fam...
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...Jennifer. “With Thanksgiving-Night Openings, Do Retailers Risk More Than Busting Doors?” Forbes.com. n.p., 14 Nov 2012. Web. 15 Nov 2013.
Stein, Joel. “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation.” Time.com. n.p., 20 May 2013. Web. 15 Nov 2013.
Tozzi, John. “The Branding of Black Friday.” BusinessWeek.com. n.p., 20 Nov 2012. Web. 11 Nov 2013.
Tuttle, Brad. “What’s on Tap for Black Friday.” TIMEBusiness.com. n.p., 20 Nov 2012. Web. 16 Nov 2013
Zilman, Claire. “Why Macy’s relented to an early Thanksgiving opening.” Fortune.com. n.p. 17 Oct 2013. Web. 7 November 2013.
“Black Friday Ads Leaking Earlier Than Ever Before on FatWallet.” PRNewswire.com. n.p., 30 Oct 2013. Web. 13 Nov 2013.
“Restaurant Chains Open Thanksgiving Day.” RestaurantNews.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
“10 Things You Didn’t Know About Black Friday.” usnews.com. n.p., 2009. Web. 10 Nov 2013.
Macy’s intended to deliver enhanced shopping experiences to its consumers through dynamic department stores and online sites. In this regard, the company developed a North Star strategy that allows it to improve its sales growth and to develop its existing core activities. The company’s consumer research monitors, analyze and anticipate their needs and wants based on the changing market trends. This allows it to strengthen its customer base and also helps it in identifying new markets and customers. Macy’s also identifies different styles and designs based on various occasions and events that allow it to capture the changing preferences of its customers. The company also celebrates various iconic events to interact with its customers which
Hays, Constance L. “Martha Stewart Living Says Revenue Fell 14% in the Quarter.” The New York Times. 1 May. 2003. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/
There have been many financial corruptions and scandals though out history and in 1869 one such scandal rock The United States financial institute’s foundation. The attempt to corner the gold market lead to the preverbal straw which almost broke the camel’s back. This scandal has become to be known as Black Friday, not to be confused with the Friday following Thanksgiving this Black Friday proved that without oversight of the market it could quickly become a market of the few.
Over the years, the American department store has developed and evolved as not only a commercial business but also a cultural institution. While it has weathered many storms and changes since its inception and throughout history, its most predominant enemy has been a change in the lifestyle of the American people (Whitaker, 2013). As the customer’s needs and wants have shifted, department stores have struggled to keep up with demands. It has been argued that the decline of the department store has been ongoing for the last 50 years (Whitaker, 2013). This dissertation aims to understand how the department store has historically played a role in consumer culture and spending, and additionally, how this has evolved and changed in today’s retail market. Although department stores may not be able to take all the credit for inventing modern shopping, they certainly made its conventions and conveniences commonplace. They set a new standard for the way the consumer should expect to be treated, the type of services that should be provided, and the convenience that should attend the process of acquiring the necessities and niceties of life all in one place. They made shopping into a leisure pastime. This environment meant shopping was a means of freedom to look around, pick up objects with no obligations to buy. As one historian remarked, department stores: “encouraged a perception of the building as a public place, where consumption itself was almost incidental to the delights of a sheltered promenade in a densely crowded, middle-class urban space” (Whitaker, 2006). Although this perception and view of the department store has changed over the years, this paper aims to follow the trail of how and why that happened.
Hansen, Brian. "Big-Box Stores." Are They Good For America? 14 (2004). 14 Mar 2005 <www.libraries.psu.edu/cqresearcher>.
Companies like Target are looking for new ways to get customers to shop at their locations. They have learned through market research that there are certain times in a person’s life when they are more open to changing their buying habits. The most significant of these times is when a woman is having her first child since products will be needed for the baby.
Norton, Anne. "The Signs of Shopping." The Signs of ShoppinG in the U.S.A. Sixth ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 101-06. Print.
Again why Black Friday should be on Friday. For example, on the U.S. news reported that retail employees have gone to the internet media and started a petition site, change.org, asking for early-opening retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target to push back their sales. They argue that by opening earlier that retailers are stealing time away from their families. I use to work for a major retail store and we could not request to have that day off so I had to work on Thanksgiving Day. Not only did I not get to spend time with my husband and three kids, but family that came out of town to spend time with my family and I.
Kenney Paul, Alison. “2014 Retail Industry Outlook.” The Wall Street Journal. Jan 7, 2014. Web.
For hundreds of years Thanksgiving has been a holiday filled with traditions celebrating family and togetherness. The day after thanksgiving known as “Black Friday” is a day for shopping and taking advantage of greatly reduced prices. The recent decision by retailers to move Black Friday to Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, has caused quite a stir among many families. People have become upset over the decision to turn a day of gratitude and family, into another day of greed and violence. Retailers should not open their stores on Thanksgiving Day because doing so will cause many employees to miss out on spending a special day with their families, cause people to forget about the thanks and festivities that thanksgiving represents, and create more violence in stores and violence towards people.
Best Buy . (2011, 2 16). Retrieved 2 19, 2011, from Best Buy Competitiors Analysis from Hoovers.
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
A common worry about Friday is safety, parents wondering if their kids should be out that early in such dangerous crowds. My solution: Do not shop at Wal-Mart! Out of all crime reports filled out on Black Friday, over half of them are involving Wal-Mart customers or staff
Koba, M. (2011, November 3). Gross Domestic Product: CNBC Explains. Retrieved from CNBC: EXPLAINS: http://www.cnbc.com/id/44505017
For most, Thanksgiving is a holiday spent with family and delicious food, but for others, it is a day consisting of tremendous planning in hopes for a major haul of “discounted” items. In the United States, it is safe to say that Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events each year. In recent years the public's participation in Black Friday has continued to decline, stated by the National Retail Federation. ”Thirty-five percent of consumers who plan to shop during Thanksgiving week say they will do so on Black Friday, down from 51 percent last year and 59 percent the year before, according to consumer markets research from PwC, the professional services giant.” (Bhattarai). I personally have never been