We all know that "BLACK FRIDAY" is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving. But ... why is it called that and how did it all get started?
It was originally called BLACK FRIDAY because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence! ALSO ... as it became popular to begin holiday shopping on that day it was a way that retailers signified their books going from being in the "RED" to "BLACK" as things were all kept in ledgers then and actual red and black pens were used in keeping track of financials.
It has grown in popularity ever since when retailers began to realize they could draw and enormous amount of crowds if they offered super great deals! For quite a while stores would open as early as 5 a.m. but in recent years there is a new trend of stores opening at midnight similar to much anticipated movies being debuted at midnight.
This year there have even been a lot of "Pre-Black Friday" ads! So as we evolve things of course change and a lot of people are turning to on-line shopping to avoid crowds and traffic and just the simple ease of sitting in your comfortable home and shopping and having it shipped right to your door!
THE "GOOD, BAD & THE UGLY"!
Sometimes "Black Friday" can even make the news - for not exactly good reasons! 
In the mid 1960's "Black Friday" is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department had given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It was not a term of endearment to them. With that being the day that officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brought massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing. The Police Department coined the phrase to describe the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrian and auto traffic in the Center City downtown area.**
Still 'till this day, Black Friday crowds hunting bargains can give the police headaches. The most violence seems to occur at Walmart - especially in their electronics department! For example, In 2011, a woman pepper-sprayed a crowd at a Walmart in Los Angeles ... She was trying to get a Wii for 60% off. And then in 2012, two people were shot outside of a Walmart in Tallahassee Florida. They were fighting over a parking space! 
But, the worst incident recorded so far on Black Friday occured in 2008, when a man was trampled to death! Despite being of substantial size - 6'5" and 270 pounds, a temporary worker for Wal-Mart in New York died of asphyxiation when crowds stampeded into the store. At least 2,000 people broke down the doors, trapping him in a vestibule where he suffocated. Eleven other people were also injured, including a pregnant woman.
So ... THAT is how it all began! HAPPY SHOPPING!
Are you SHOPPING FOR A HOUSE?? Well .. we can help you with no lines, crowds, violence or worries! GIVE US A CALL at 704-235-3000 or visit our website at WWW.THETEMPLETEAM.COM.
**(Source: The Chicago Tribune, "Black Friday - Why and When?)
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