Article: "Black Friday Is Dying, and That’s a Good Thing"

[cjottawa]

http://twocents.lifehacker.com/black-friday-is-dying-and-that-s-a-good-thing-1743114275

Couldn't agree more, ditto with "Boxing Day Sales" up here in Canada. (shopping day on December 26th where everyone loses their mind to get to the store for exactly the same reasons as Black Friday, with exactly the same result... cheap crap, long lines, pointless consumerism)

[slugline]

For much the same reason, that silly practice of retailers being open on Thanksgiving should be given up too. You're no longer beating your competition if everyone's been in the throes of deal-hawking all November.

[FIREby35]

The only problem with this is that is assumes everyone should be an ever vigilant "shopper" for "deals" on random stuff. But, I agree its good news if Black Friday dies and retailers let my little brother and sister (and people like them) enjoy Thanksgiving with our family.

Black Friday was always the retailer version of a Race to the Bottom. Glad they finally found it.

[zolotiyeruki]

Maybe 10 years ago, you could find genuinely good deals on Black Friday.  That doesn't seem to be the case any more--the deals, by and large, are no better than the ones you see in the weekly circulars.  There are a *few* decent deals, but nothing worth getting up at midnight (or, heaven forbid, stay out all night) for.

I think it's the rise of Amazon and all the other online retailers that has spelled the doom of Black Friday--they leveled the playing field.