Retailers really love the concept of “Black Friday.” They love it so much that they’re trying to expand it in all directions. Instead of the day after Thanksgiving and the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, Black Friday is now a year-round event that is an inclusive alternative to “Christmas in July.” Now it’s a spring event, too.

Reader T. sent along an e-mail that he received from Home Depot, which included several promotions that included the Black Friday thing. You can see that graphic at the top of this post. Here’s what shoppers saw when they clicked on it.

Yes, that is some very festive mulch, but that doesn’t explain why it’s called “Black Friday.” The sale being advertised runs from Thursday, April 9 until Sunday, April 12. That’s four days, only 25% of which are actual Fridays.

We looked back in our archives and found that Home Depot was a pioneer of alternative Black Fridays, having pummeled customers with e-mails about it in early April of 2013.

From the point of view of home improvement retailers, a Black Friday sale in the spring kind of makes sense. That’s a hot time to sell outdoor items like patio furniture and garden supplies. Great, but why does it have to be called Black Friday? We asked this question about an almost identical spring Black Friday concept that Walmart and Lowe’s tried last year, and Petco, Target, and Meijer.

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