By Olivia Mangelli, Staff Writer
The Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the most famous Fridays of the year. Thousands of people flock to the department and retail stores for deals that only last for one day. Crowds form early in the morning while products are still in stock and don’t let up until everything is sold out. Sales range from 10 to 80 percent off depending on the store. However, whether it’s worth it in this digital age is another question. The majority of these sales are available online and instead of “Black Friday” deals, most companies have extended their sales to last an entire week. Yet, this tradition has been unchanged by the internet and the chaos of “Black Friday” continued to ensue this year.
Senio rHofstra University student Destiny Colavito recalls her experience with Black Friday shopping this year.
“I know I can find everything online now, but I think it’s fun to wake up early and get to the stores and see everyone else there,” Colavito said. “It’s like the beginning of the holiday season for me, so I get excited and it’s a tradition at this point.”
Colavito details that the chaos of Black Friday shopping isn’t really there anymore, but the experience is still fun for her, and much more relaxed.
“My boyfriend and I woke up at 5 a.m. and drove to the Tanger outlets to go shopping,”Colavito said. “There were alot of people there and we got a lot of good stuff. The outlets are already discounted, and with Black Friday deals, we saved so much money. I bought a lot of my friends and family Christmas gifts.”
The craze of Black Friday is nothing like it used to be. It was the craziest day of the year in the early to mid 2000’s, where people would camp out outside stores just to be the first ones there. Stores like Best Buy, Walmart and other large department stores would have people waiting in line for hours and fights would often break out in the stores over securing the best deals on electronics, or other large household items.
Social media users took to TikTok to share their sadness that kids these days will never know the insanity that ensued on Black Friday all those years ago. Along the lines of that, TikTokers also pointed out that Black Friday isn’t really that special anymore regarding getting good deals and saving money. Many users explained that a 15 to 20 percent discount isn’t a Black Friday deal, and that companies are just raising their prices to pretend like the discount price is the best available, when in reality it’s the normal price all year round.
Senior nursing major Fiorella Delgado shared her perspective on this year’s Black Friday.
“I went Black Friday shopping once in 2012, and the deals weren’t even that great, and now I feel like it’s not even worth it for anyone to go,” Delgado said. “I wait until cyber monday, which is so much easier and less chaotic for me. I was watching TikToks that turned me off of going even more, because the deals weren’t good at all. The whole point of Black Friday used to be the absolute best deals, that’s why everyone went crazy for it and waited all year to do their holiday shopping on that day. Now it just feels like a normal shopping day and the fun and chaos is disappearing more and more every year.”
Delgado isn’t the only one to share this opinion, as Black Friday shopping around the country has been declining every year.
As the holiday season unfolds, Black Friday is still an iconic shopping day that will forever be a tradition for people around the world. The impact of Black Friday continues to be shown with bags in our hands, and people embracing the spirit of giving and receiving.
Be First to Comment