This year, Black Friday, the universal holiday honoring unbridled commerce, will happen on Nov. 27. That doesn’t mean that Black Friday is limited to only that day, though: today, megastore Amazon.com kicked off their “Countdown to Black Friday,” which is apparently sort of like an Advent calendar full of external hard drives and sneakers. [More]
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REI Won’t Open On Black Friday, Tells Everyone To Go Play Outside
By 10.27.15
The outdoor equipment co-op REI sells gear for people to have fun, well, outdoors. That’s why it makes sense that they’ve started a campaign encouraging all of us to spend the day after Thanksgiving having fun outside. Oh, and they’re including store employees in that mandate: stores will be closed, and employees will have that day off with pay. [More]
GameStop Proudly Announces It Will Not Sell You Video Games On Thanksgiving
By 10.12.15
If you wanted to get away from your family this Thanksgiving and buy video games and/or video game accessories, you’ll have to do it somewhere other than GameStop. The chain announced today that it will not be open on Nov. 26. [More]
Staples Kicks Off Brown Thursday Announcements: Will Close On Thanksgiving
By 10.1.15
Over the last few years, a growing trend for retailers has been to open up on Thanksgiving Day, sometimes at an obscenely early hour. Maybe that isn’t working out so well for them after all: Staples, one retailer that has opened on Gray Thursday for the last few years, has decided to close up and let its workers spend the holiday at home. [More]
Target’s Black Friday In July Promotion Is Back To Annoy Us
By 7.9.15
Sure, Amazon is creating a new shopping holiday that they claim will be even bigger than Black Friday to honor their 20th anniversary, but we can be thankful for one thing: they are not actually referring to it as “Black Friday.” Many other retailers do regardless of what time of year it is, and Target has brought back their annual summer Black Friday promotion. [More]
Amazon Celebrates 20th Birthday By Creating A New Holiday For You To Buy Things
By 7.6.15
Black Friday is coming four months early for Amazon Prime members. The online retail giant is celebrating its 20th birthday in a big way its upcoming deal-filled Prime Day. [More]
Home Depot’s ‘Spring Black Friday’ Stupidity Is Back
By 4.10.15
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. [More]
Walmart Stops Contesting $7,000 Fine For Worker Killed By Black Friday Shoppers In 2008
By 3.20.15
After six years and millions of dollars, Walmart plans to stop fighting a $7,000 fine imposed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to the death of an employee during Black Friday. [More]
Walmart Loses Customer’s Black Friday Order, Tells Her To Re-Order At Full Price
By 12.24.14
We know that mistakes happen and things occasionally get lost in shipping, especially when you’re talking about the world’s largest retailer during the year’s busiest shopping season. But if a retailer admits to misplacing your order, it shouldn’t try to cash in on its own screw-up by charging you more than you had already paid. [More]
Retailers Took More Than 3 Minutes To Answer Customer Service Calls On Cyber Monday
By 12.2.14
While not as many people went shopping over the weekend as they did during last year’s holiday, retailers still sold billions of dollars worth of stuff in just a few days, and some of that stuff was damaged or otherwise required calls to customer service. But not every seller was terribly eager or prepared to deal with the onslaught of phone calls. [More]
Spending & Retail Traffic Down From Last Year’s Black Friday Weekend
By 12.1.14
Many retailers and websites got a very early jump on the Black Friday shopping weekend this year, not just by being open on Thanksgiving but by holding pre-holiday sales and deals. As you might expect, this appears to have had the effect of taking some of the wind out of the sails of all the sales over the weekend. [More]
Best Buy Website Goes Down On One Day Of Year It Shouldn’t
By 11.28.14
We’re hearing lots of complaints about the website for electronics retailer Best Buy being down, and multiple news outlets are confirming that BestBuy.com is unresponsive nationwide. [More]
Black Friday Mania Spreads To Animal Shelters, Adoption Events For Black Cats And Dogs
By 11.28.14
Since we first learned about this idea two years ago, a really great Black Friday promotion has become even more popular nationwide. It’s a doorbuster that aims to bust thousands of doors: the doors of cages and kennels at animal shelters, that is. Shelters and rescue groups have pounced on the idea of the holiday, and offer discounts or free adoptions of animals with black fur, and often animals of other colors as well. [More]
Mobile Companies Leaping To Sell You A New Phone — With A New Contract — On Black Friday
By 11.26.14
Is your phone getting old? Has it met with the unfortunate confluence of liquids, young children, and boisterous pets lately? If you’re in the market for a replacement or upgrade, it looks like Black Friday might be your day… as long as you’re willing to sign a contract. [More]
1-In-5 Shoppers Has Done Something Awful To Obtain A Coveted Holiday Gift
By 11.26.14
Because there’s this widely held assumption that people should get the thing they desire most during the holidays, and because a lot of people desire the same things, some holiday shoppers will cross that line between naughty and nice to make sure they check certain items off their shopping lists. [More]
Dealership’s “White Friday” Deal: Buy A New Vehicle Now, Get A Refund If It Snows 6 Inches On Christmas
By 11.25.14
We’ve seen retailers make a big gamble for events like the Super Bowl (and lose millions in merchandise, in one case), but this might be the first time we’ve caught wind of a car dealership willing togive out free cars just to woo Black Friday shoppers. [More]
Walmart Still Avoiding Paying $7000 Fine For Worker Killed By Black Friday Shoppers In 2008
By 11.25.14
In 2008, a Walmart employee was killed when a mob of deal-desperate Black Friday shoppers tore the store’s doors from their hinges and stormed inside, trampling him to death. The chain was eventually fined $7000 for their role in the employee’s death — but six years and $2 million later, the world’s largest retailer has yet to pay up. [More]
Yes, People Will Strip To Their Underwear And Wait Outside In The Cold For Free Stuff
By 11.25.14
What would you do for the promise of a couple pieces of free clothing? Just think of all the college freshmen who signed away their financial futures by applying for credit cards at orientation (before such marketing was outlawed). A line of 100 or so shoppers in San Francisco may not have to worry about ruining their credit score, but photos of them shivering in their skivvies will probably follow them forever. [More]
