Black Friday is almost here!

Are you patiently awaiting the Black Friday deals? Discover the history behind this date whilst you wait.

The term Black Friday originated in Philadelphia, USA and dates back to 1961. It was originally a term the local police used to describe the increased traffic and footfall which occurred each year, the day after Thanksgiving.  

More recently US retailers tried to piggyback onto this term and introduce the term Black Friday in an attempt to entice customers into their stores for the cheaper prices. The day after Thanksgiving in the US is largely regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping period, as the next big holiday after Thanksgiving is in fact Christmas.  The Black Friday tradition then began to spread across other countries around the world.

In 2015 one retailer in particular, Amazon, created a Black Friday in July. This was the first time this was known. Amazon called this “Prime Day” and through this promised better than Black Friday deals.

What about the UK?

In the UK, the emergency services coined the Friday before Christmas, Black Friday (although in some areas this is known as “Mad Friday”) as this was traditionally when firms finished work for the Christmas break with many hitting the pubs and clubs earlier in the day than they usually would. Quite often this resulted in much busier times for the Police and Ambulance services.

In shopping terms in the UK, Boxing Day was always the biggest shopping day of the year with the general public hitting shops, sometimes as early as 5 am to bag a bargain. In 2010, American retailers such as Asda, (Walmart owned), started holding Black Friday style events to give shoppers the cheaper prices that they were looking for. The UK owned brands later followed this trend after seeing how successful these sales were.

Even more recently there have been more sales similar to Black Friday, Cyber Monday for instance. This is usually the Monday after Black Friday. Cyber Week follows Cyber Monday. This can only be a good thing for shoppers as there is always a chance to grab a bargain if you miss the traditional Black Friday deals.

Here at Magna Beds, we are holding our own Black Friday sale so now is a great time to upgrade your bedroom before Christmas without even having to leave your home with discounted beds and affordable mattresses coming your way!