black friday

I know, I know: It’s a time of national service today, and of growing excitement about Tuesday’s historic events. But The Consumerist can’t help noting that Tuesday morning also marks a massive cosmetics giveaway by major department stores, beginning when the doors open in the morning for business.
From The Consumerist:
Americans face a tough choice Tuesday [...]

People love to attack trial lawyers, but here’s a lawsuit that sounds worthwhile: the family of the 34-year-old temp worker who was trampled to death on “Black Friday” by a mass of ravenous bargain-hunters on Long Island has sued Wal-Mart for failing to protect him from the clamoring crowd.
The suit claims that the store’s [...]

New figures are out for retail sales in November, and the picture is grim. A SpendingPulse report found that sales declined even further than October’s dismal numbers, and that Black Friday bargains apparently didn’t do much to break the fall, the New York Times says.
From the Times:

The national shopping ritual known as Black Friday, which TWI wrote about today, has been marked by tragedy. A Wal-Mart employee in a Long Island, N.Y., store died after shoppers knocked down the doors to the entrance and stormed in to search for bargains, Bloomberg says.
Three others were injured, and a pregnant woman was taken [...]

The rise of online discounting, layaway programs, the reluctance of stores to haggle and, most important, the economic crisis could make this year’s Black Friday a dismal shopping day. But some analysts say that what has become for many consumers a ritual of the holiday season will keep cash registers busy.