109 Fun Facts About Black Friday

What does Black Friday traditionally mark the start of?

It is the busiest shopping day of the US year.

On what day of the week does US Thanksgiving fall, fixing Black Friday's date?

The date became uniform nationwide in 1941.

Which American city's police first used 'Black Friday' for post-Thanksgiving crowds and traffic?

Rochester police used it too.

What did the city's merchants try to rename the day in 1961?

The rebrand was quickly forgotten.

In what year did 'Black Friday' first appear in The New York Times, still meaning that city's crowds?

Retailers in Cincinnati and LA had still not heard it in 1985.

The earliest known use of 'Black Friday' for the day after Thanksgiving, in 1951, referred to what?

It appeared in Factory Management and Maintenance.

Which accounting colour theory did merchants promote in the 1980s to explain the name?

The earliest published version is in a 1981 Philadelphia Inquirer.

Which financial disaster was the most significant early American 'Black Friday'?

Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner gold.

Which president's brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, was ruined in the gold-cornering scheme?

Grant released government gold and prices dropped 18%.

On what date did the gold panic that ruined Abel Corbin occur?

Grant released $4 million in government gold that day.

Which president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939 to lengthen the shopping season?

Critics dubbed it 'Franksgiving'.

Who coined the derisive term 'Franksgiving'?

Charles D. White, in 1939.

Which retail boss urged Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving in 1939?

Federated later became Macy's, Inc.

Which three states gave holidays in both weeks during the 1939 Thanksgiving confusion?

Twenty-three states followed Roosevelt; twenty-two kept the old date.

How did a 1939 Gallup poll find Americans overall felt about the Thanksgiving date change?

Republicans opposed it 79% to 21%.

What did a 1941 Commerce Department survey find about the earlier Thanksgiving?

Congress then fixed the fourth Thursday anyway.

What is a 'doorbuster'?

The name refers to doors literally broken by crowds.

Which retailer's founder coined the term 'doorbuster'?

The first ad ran in the Tuscaloosa News in 1949.

Which 1983 toy caused the earliest recorded doorbuster mania?

Coleco shipped only about 50 dolls per store.

What is a 'loss leader'?

The vendor hopes to profit on the other goods bought.

Where was Walmart employee Jdimytai Damour trampled to death by shoppers in 2008?

About 2,000 shoppers waited for the 5 a.m. opening.

What did a woman at a Los Angeles Walmart use on fellow shoppers in 2011?

They were waiting for discounted Xbox 360s.

Which product was the crowd waiting for in the 2011 Los Angeles Walmart incident?

About 20 people were injured.

What sparked the 2012 shooting outside a Tallahassee Walmart?

Two people were shot.

What were shoppers fighting over at a Florence, Kentucky mall in 2015?

Smartphone video made it 'the worst brawls in history'.

What did two women fight over at a Norwalk, California Walmart in 2014?

On Thanksgiving night.

What was the sale first called in Egypt when it began in 2014?

The change was for religious and cultural reasons.

What is the sale called in Pakistan?

The name changed for religious reasons.

Which e-commerce platform created 'Yellow Friday' in Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

It is now an annual event.

What is the Turkish version of the sale called?

It falls on the last Friday of November.

What is Mexico's Black Friday-inspired sales weekend called?

'The good weekend' has run since 2011.

Which Mexican holiday does El Buen Fin precede?

The holiday is moved to a Monday to avoid four-day weekends.

In the UK, what did the term originally mean to police and the NHS?

Emergency services set up field hospitals near nightspots.

Which UK chain, then owned by Walmart, helped import US-style Black Friday sales?

Amazon UK did too; 2014 saw police called to shops.

What had traditionally been the UK's biggest shopping day before Black Friday arrived?

December 26 is also St Stephen's Day.

Which Manchester police chief called shoppers' 2014 behaviour 'appalling' after incidents at Tesco?

He also criticised shops' security arrangements.

Why did Canadian stores start their own Black Friday deals in 2008 and 2009?

2012 saw the biggest Canadian Black Friday to date.

What did 'Black Friday' refer to in Australia before it meant shopping?

The retail use caused backlash and confusion.

Which nickname did Brazilians give the sale because of inflated prices?

They also joke that prices are 'half of the double'.

In Romania, when is Black Friday held relative to the US date?

eMAG and Flanco imported it in 2011.

Which company ran the first Black Friday campaign in Germany, in 2006, without using the name?

It calls it a 'one-day shopping event'.

What alternative name did some French retailers use in 2016 after the Paris attacks?

'French Days' came later, in spring 2018.

Which shopping mall started Black Friday in Norway as a 2010 publicity stunt?

It has grown nationwide since.

Which US state observes 'Family Day' on the day after Thanksgiving?

California calls it The Day After Thanksgiving for state workers.

Which Charlotte, North Carolina neighbourhood is the most trafficked US area on Black Friday?

It is home to a large mall.

Which three states ban big stores from opening on Thanksgiving under old blue laws?

A bill to change it had a hearing in 2017.

Which retailer opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving in 2010 and gave away Crayola crayons?

It was among the first to push into Thursday night.

Which chain had been open on Thanksgiving Day as early as 1991?

Manager Freddy Moss opened at 7 p.m. in 2009.

What derisive name was given to retailers opening on Thanksgiving evening?

Some outlets said 'Gray Thursday' or 'Brown Thursday'.

What happened to holiday-weekend sales in 2014 despite heavy Thanksgiving-night traffic?

Many retailers went back to closing on Thanksgiving in 2015.

Which retailer said in 2021 that its Thanksgiving Day closure would be permanent?

Most big chains closed again that year.

Which three retailers were targeted by the 2025 'We Ain't Buying It' boycott?

Shoppers organised the boycott around the holiday.

How much did US online Black Friday sales reach in 2020, according to Adobe Analytics?

Up 22% on the previous year.

By how much did store foot traffic fall on Black Friday 2020, per RetailNext?

Sensormatic put it at 52%.

What was added to the list of internet top-level domains on April 23, 2014?

Joining .com, .net and .org.

According to a 2012 Gallup poll, what share of American adults planned to shop on Black Friday?

Neil Stern said the day was 'quickly losing its meaning'.

How were Thanksgiving Day newspapers priced since the 2000s, thanks to retail circulars?

They are stuffed with Black Friday ads.

What law have retailers used to try to remove leaked Black Friday ads from websites?

They claim the ad prices are trade secrets.

Which factor is cited for spreading holiday deals across all of November and December, diluting Black Friday?

The 'golden quarter' runs October to December.

What do retailers call the year's final three months, their most profitable stretch?

Christmas creep pushes goods out even earlier.

What was the first Black Friday weekend spending decline since the 2008 recession, in 2014?

The US economy was not in recession that year.

How much were US shoppers forecast to spend for Black Friday 2025?

Forecasters described Black Friday as a season, not a day.

Which sale did Amazon launch in summer 2015 as 'Black Friday in July'?

It marked the website's 20th anniversary.

On what date was the first Amazon Prime Day held?

Critics complained the discounts were on unwanted items.

When was Prime Day held in 2020 after a pandemic postponement?

It normally runs in July.

Who coined the term 'Cyber Monday' in a 2005 press release?

Shop.org research showed the Monday was a big online day.

What online shopping holiday did 1-800-Flowers' Tony Valado propose in 2003?

It would have been the day before Thanksgiving.

Why did people historically shop online the Monday after Thanksgiving, per The New York Times?

Over half of 2009 Cyber Monday dollars came from work computers.

How much was spent online on Cyber Monday 2020, the biggest US online shopping day to that point?

It was the first Cyber Monday of the pandemic.

What was Australia's first Cyber Monday-style event in 2012 called?

Its website crashed within moments of launching.

What happened when the Australian event launched at 7pm on 20 November 2012?

Organisers had promised the site could handle the traffic.

Which company created and promotes Small Business Saturday?

It is a registered Amex trademark.

When was the first Small Business Saturday held?

Boston mayor Thomas Menino was a partner.

Which country got its own Small Business Saturday in 2013?

After the US event's success.

What is Buy Nothing Day?

It coincides with Black Friday in North America.

Which Canadian artist invented Buy Nothing Day?

Adbusters magazine promoted it.

Which magazine and nonprofit promotes Buy Nothing Day?

Its ad depicted North Americans as a belching pig.

When was the first Buy Nothing Day held?

It moved to the Friday after US Thanksgiving in 1997.

What did organisers call the protest of pushing empty shopping carts around stores in long lines?

Other tactics include credit-card-cutting parties.

Which network was among the few to air the Buy Nothing Day commercial?

MTV, ABC, CBS and NBC refused it.

What was Buy Nothing Christmas renamed in 2011?

A reference to the Occupy movement.

On which day of the week does GivingTuesday fall?

It is always five days after US Thanksgiving.

Where was GivingTuesday founded in 2012?

Henry Timms started it; the UN Foundation co-founded.

When is Green Monday, an online retail term coined by Shopping.com in 2007?

Shopping.com, an eBay company, coined it in 2007.

Why was that particular Monday identified as Green Monday?

comScore defines it as the last Monday at least 10 days before Christmas.

When is Super Saturday, also called Panic Saturday?

It targets last-minute shoppers.

Who started Free Shipping Day in 2008?

It is held in mid-December with delivery by Christmas Eve.

On what date (month/day) is China's Singles' Day, the world's largest shopping day?

The numeral 1 resembles a bare stick, slang for a bachelor.

Which company turned Singles' Day into a shopping festival in 2009?

CEO Daniel Zhang made it a 24-hour discount event.

Where did Singles' Day originate in 1993?

Four single men in a dorm agreed to celebrate bachelorhood.

In 2025, Singles' Day sales topped $150bn, exceeding which two events combined?

It is the world's largest retail day.

The 26 December sales day usually coincides with whose feast day?

It falls on 26 December, the day after Christmas.

What does the Oxford English Dictionary say tradespeople traditionally received on 26 December?

The OED's earliest attestation is from 1743.

In which country was 26 December historically the biggest shopping day until Black Friday arrived?

Retailers extend it into 'Boxing Week'.

Which other observance shares Black Friday's date in the United States?

An activist called the clash 'poor taste'.

Which store's Thanksgiving procession has marched to Herald Square since 1924?

NBC televises it nationally.

Which president began annual national Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863?

Washington had proclaimed one in 1789.

How many Black Friday doorbuster deaths had been recorded by December 2019, per one tally?

Along with 117 injuries.

How many people did the NRF estimate shopped over Black Friday weekend 2019?

They spent an average of $361.90 each.

What is the relationship between Black Friday sales and the full holiday season's retail sales, per the article?

Despite heavy media coverage.

What did Ad Age say the COVID-19 pandemic had dealt Black Friday in 2020?

Online shopping had already been eroding it for years.

How many shoppers were expected on Black Friday 2016 compared with the year before, per Doorbuster's article?

Online deals are available year-round.

Which country's government launched Black Friday in 2012 as a way to draw regional tourists to its capital?

Its first year was believed to have attracted around 35,000 visitors, according to immigration figures.

Which retailer was the first in Switzerland to run a special Black Friday promotion, in 2015?

Most Swiss retailers followed the next year, and by 2024 sales of 470 million francs were expected, eclipsing Singles' Day there.

Which Indian festival period has traditionally anchored the country's holiday shopping season?

Online retailers there adopted multi-day promotions modelled on US-style events, and international chains later imported Black Friday itself.

How many stores took part in the Netherlands' first organised Black Friday in 2015?

A few big and small retailers had used the term earlier, but 2015 is regarded as the year the event really began there.

What record online spend did Cyber Monday reach in 2019, according to Adobe Analytics?

Mobile transactions alone accounted for $3.1 billion of that total; the 2018 figure had been $7.9 billion.

Per comScore, what share of US Cyber Monday spending in 2009 came from work computers?

Total online spending that day rose 5% to $887 million — a fraction of the multi-billion-dollar totals a decade later.

Which country did Black Friday reach in 2013, with The Warehouse and Harvey Norman offering sales by 2015?

Payment processor Paymark logged NZ$219 million of transactions on Black Friday 2017, up more than 10% on the year before.