QUESTION OF THE WEEK

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
by RM Group of Richardson GMP 
http://dir.richardsongmp.com/the.rmgroup/page_2950

It’s hard to believe, but Black Friday is only a week away in the United States. Would it be safe to assume that sales have struggled over the past few years due to the poor shape of the U.S. economy?

Believe it or not, the answer is actually no.While we certainly wouldn’t blame people for thinking that Americans have spent less on Black Friday (the day after U.S. Thanksgiving), the chart below shows that Thanksgiving weekend sales have increased every year since 2008 (although barely in 2009). It just goes to show that if you give an American a dollar, he or she will spend that dollar.And for those of you who don’t know why this day is called "Black” Friday, the name is derived from accounting terminology.Most retailers don’t make a great deal of money in the first half of the year and in many cases they lose money, which we refer to as being "in the red”.However, as the Friday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been the busiest shopping day of the year, sales are so good that stores start being profitable.In other words, they go from being "in the red” to being "in the black”.Hence the name Black Friday.Shopping has evolved over the years as we now also have Cyber Monday where retailers offer their best deals online and unfortunately we now have Black Thursday as stores are even opening up on the Thanksgiving holiday. Wal-mart started this trend last year opening at 10:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving and this year the opening will be even sooner at 8:00 p.m. Other major retailers, especially discounters are expected to follow suit.So much for that "holiday” weekend America.

Source: Richardson GMP Limited
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