PalenQ

Just seeing scenes of Oxford Street during today's disturbance there I saw several signs on stores touring Black Friday Sales - why is this Friday Black Friiday in the U.K. In U.S. the meaning comes from the day when big stores allegedly first came into the black during the year and kept in black thru Christmas sales. But this could not have been the case in U.K. Right?

So why Black Friday - and stores touting it?

Do folks line up for hours to get in like in U.S. and are stores open 5-6 am?

Black Friday has always been one of the most popular sales days in U.S. for generations but in Britain?

U.S. does not have Boxing Day sales to my knowledge.

ticino

Lots of Black Friday signs in Stockholm as well but I didn’t see that many people shopping.

hetismij2

Black Friday is everywhere in Europe. Anything to turn a buck. Most of the "bargains" aren't.
I blame Amazon for spreading it.

bvlenci

No, Black Friday was already insane in the US before Amazon came on the scene. I moved to Italy 20 years ago, and Black Friday was at that time a real zoo in the larger department stores. If anything, Amazon moved a lot of it inside the domestic walls, which is an improvement, to my mind.

Black Friday doesn't seem to be taking off in Italy, although the merchants are certainly trying. However, Italians who have no idea of what Thanksgiving is have heard of Black Friday.

luz_de_lisboa

Plenty of Black Friday in Portugal. Complete with the stampede into the store at midnight

blaire25

Don't understand why people participate in this

PalenQ

If anything, Amazon moved a lot of it inside the domestic walls, which is an improvement, to my mind.>

Cyber Monday is more an Amazon creation I believe or at least why it is so popular - online specials like Black Friday.

StCirq

I didn't venture out of the house today as I was really tired from Thanksgiving and didn't need to do any errands, so I don't know whether there was any shopping brouhaha going on, but it's been widely advertised in the media and all the promo bulletins we get every Tuesday. Never participated in it back in the USA anyway. I hate shopping, though, except for food and old things for our old house. I did note there was a huge fight at some Alabama mall. Seems par for the course.

swandav2000

Yes, also see lots of Black Friday advertisements here in Bavaria -- as hetismij2 notes, "Anything to turn a buck." That's a universal language.

s

northie

Advertised down under as well - it's a global economy

marvelousmouse

Even in the US, it kind of depends on where you are. For some people, it’s huge, and for other people, it really isn’t. I did Black Friday with a friend’s family once because I was curious; my parents never did it. And it was pretty much what I’d expected. The stuff on sale is largely not stuff I’d buy, for myself or for Christmas gifts. And the stuff I would buy...well, I’m sorry, that 10 bucks off that scrabble game is just not worth being up at 5 am for.

I’ve noticed that most of the Black Friday activity where I live now is more about Canadians coming down to shop, and a lot of that is because it’s the Canadians that are the main market for the mall and big box stores here anyway. Probably a good 75% of the license plates any weekend are Canadian. Any sale is a good sale. But it hasn’t been a thing with my coworkers or friends at all. Don’t know if it’s because they’re not mall people, or they don’t want to deal with the traffic, or they’re more about cyber Monday...probably all the above.

Heimdall

Black Friday in the UK is a concept rather than a specific day. Black Friday sales have been going on for a week or two already.

bilboburgler

Another import from the crazy country. Drives me mad. Interviews on Radio 4 BBC last night showed that for most businesses it is a useless (negative profit) activity, with a fair few companies breaking the law on the definition of the word "sale" that is they put the prices up before (should be for a month) the day so they can show a price reduction.

Luckily most Brits are savvy so they know the tricks and sales look bad except in Oxford street (still the gun alert will have reduced the demand this time).

Huggy

I cannot wait for "Cyber Monday" to begin.

annhig

with a fair few companies breaking the law on the definition of the word "sale" that is they put the prices up before (should be for a month) the day so they can show a price reduction.>>

Which? did a study showing that many retailers are charging higher prices on "Black Friday" than earlier in the year. Also lots of misleading adverts like one that looked as if the price for a home hub device was £70; in fact it meant there was £70 off the price which was much higher.

Overall I think you spend less if you budget during the year for things you really need and then find the right deal at the time. For example, I needed a new oven recently; I went to a proper dealer and found a model that I liked which was £300 less than the one I'd been looking at on line. They also delivered it and fitted it for free and took the old one away for £15.

Sometimes the old fashioned methods are the best.

ribeirasacra

Black Friday in Spain too. Also we never sued to have Halloween. Just a grand "exploitation" of culture (if it can be called culture) via TV or interweb.

Traveler_Nick

Amazon.it started Cyper Monday today. Black Friday was five days I think. I bought a few things but most of the things I looked at weren't exactly cheap. A few seemed higher then normal. Still I got a few things I needed.

Kiddo

Black Friday sales were started in Canada a few years ago to try and keep people from going to the US to shop.

Hooameye

"Another import from the crazy country. Drives me mad"

You're not alone Bilbo.

massimop

If you don't like imports from other countries, you don't like globalized capitalism. Don't think you get to pick and choose.

Also, if you want to go on with "xmas traditions", you deserve this reality.