Black Friday on a Thursday?

The first large break of the school year, Thanksgiving, is always a special time for me. I typically eat Turkey and spend time at home catching up on sleep. Sometimes my uncle comes over, but for the most part it's very quite. We normally have one very large party with friends. One specific part of Thanksgiving as grown on me over the years, Black Friday. However, I feel like the concept of Black Friday has changed quite a bit over the years. 

When I first knew about Black Friday, Black Friday was actually on a Friday, as its name implies. The one big buy from black Friday that I've used is the current TV in the living room of my house. Although I don't remember the specific numbers, a lot of money was saved. However, now, prices have been dropping like crazy. A 4K TV with an even larger screen can be bought for the same price now. Back them, the idea of buying online for Black Friday was just emerging. My parents decided to order it online so they wouldn't have to wake up early in the morning or sleep over night. However, it turns out that even at 10AM, the TV we wanted was still in stock at the local Best Buy. For the next following years, Black Friday didn't play large part in my Thanksgiving. Last year, Black Friday was just a time to get clothing, specifically jackets and hoodies. 

This year, Black Friday has become a bigger part of my Thanksgiving. Contrary to it's name, Black Friday now starts on a Thursday, specifically around dinner time. And it ends on Saturday for some stores. This appears to take away some of the excitement and experience of sleeping over night or waking up super early for a product. However, for places like Hanover, I can see this as a reasonable change. Here, it can be far too cold at night for people to be spending hours waiting outside in the cold. Buying deals online also seems to be more popular now. Many of the deals found in stores can also be found online, which can reduce the rush and "panic." It reduces the stress while making the experience more enjoyable for those who want to go to stores. Many of the deals I saw can save a lot of money. This year I went to look around on Thursday evening, and I was surprised by how many people there were. The parking lot and stores were completely packed. And I've never seen paying lines so long. For the most part it was an enjoyable experience. I saw and talked with several friends there while looking around the store.

I have watched Black Friday evolve over the last several years. There are drawbacks and benefits to the recent changes. For the most part, I think the stores are just trying to change to the needs of the people to maximize profit. It's still a fun event, and I know I'll be looking forward to see what the coming Black Fridays have to offer.