In the UK, Black Friday is widely used to refer to the last working Friday before Christmas, where many revellers enjoy a drink or attend ‘office parties’. Whereas, in the US Black Friday is the day known to start the Christmas shopping, causing mayhem throughout the towns and cities.
In the United Kingdom, Black Friday is traditionally the most popular night for office Christmas parties. As a result it has gained a reputation as one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurants, public houses, and, as a result, the emergency services.
In Cumbria and the north east of England, Black Friday is known as Black Eye Friday, this is because of the extremely high number of fights that break out in bars, pubs and clubs in the area. In South Yorkshire Black Friday is also called 'Mad Friday' as of the same reasons.
The bars, pubs and clubs can benefit from this as they will be receiving a lot of money which means they will receive more profit. Receiving more profit means they will have more capital to go towards their businesses in the future, for example expansion. However, as of the chaotic atmosphere of Black Friday, customers may damage the bars, pubs and clubs’ property. This resulting in the owners having to pay to repair any damage which means they will lose out on profit as their opportunity cost would be to put more capital into improving the business.
In the United States of America, Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, most major retailers have opened very early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. In 2013, approximately 141 million U.S. consumers shopped during Black Friday, spending a total of $57.4 billion, with online sales reaching $1.2 billion.
Many retailers, in the US, will clearly benefit from the ‘Christmas shopping season’ as they will be getting a load of money from the consumers which leads to an increase in profit which can then be used to improve the businesses. This is good for America’s economy as there is more income. However, the towns and cities will be extremely busy which may lead to numerous problems, such as traffic congestion. The more traffic there is the more chance of accidents there will be. In addition, this means there will be an increase in the use of emergency services which will put a large amount of pressure on their service.
Due to these implications, this is why other areas refer to Black Friday as a chaotic and uncontrollable occasion.
By Sinead Petty, Naomi Pritchard and Nia Walker, Year 12
In the United Kingdom, Black Friday is traditionally the most popular night for office Christmas parties. As a result it has gained a reputation as one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurants, public houses, and, as a result, the emergency services.
In Cumbria and the north east of England, Black Friday is known as Black Eye Friday, this is because of the extremely high number of fights that break out in bars, pubs and clubs in the area. In South Yorkshire Black Friday is also called 'Mad Friday' as of the same reasons.
The bars, pubs and clubs can benefit from this as they will be receiving a lot of money which means they will receive more profit. Receiving more profit means they will have more capital to go towards their businesses in the future, for example expansion. However, as of the chaotic atmosphere of Black Friday, customers may damage the bars, pubs and clubs’ property. This resulting in the owners having to pay to repair any damage which means they will lose out on profit as their opportunity cost would be to put more capital into improving the business.
In the United States of America, Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, most major retailers have opened very early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. In 2013, approximately 141 million U.S. consumers shopped during Black Friday, spending a total of $57.4 billion, with online sales reaching $1.2 billion.
Many retailers, in the US, will clearly benefit from the ‘Christmas shopping season’ as they will be getting a load of money from the consumers which leads to an increase in profit which can then be used to improve the businesses. This is good for America’s economy as there is more income. However, the towns and cities will be extremely busy which may lead to numerous problems, such as traffic congestion. The more traffic there is the more chance of accidents there will be. In addition, this means there will be an increase in the use of emergency services which will put a large amount of pressure on their service.
Due to these implications, this is why other areas refer to Black Friday as a chaotic and uncontrollable occasion.
By Sinead Petty, Naomi Pritchard and Nia Walker, Year 12