The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
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A Black Friday without shoppers

Mia Kirkwood, Copy Editor
December 6, 2023
Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
For decades, Americans counted down the days until Black Friday, a day filled with pure chaos and a thirst to snatch discounted products from the shelves. With the holiday season approaching, Black Friday stood as a perfect opportunity to snag the hottest deals of the year. However, the post-Thanksgiving day of deals has lost its charm as shoppers choose to engage in online Black Friday variants and as retailers issue unfavorable discounts.

Still full from Thanksgiving dinner and ready for holiday shopping, people flood their local department stores every Friday following the American turkey holiday, hoping to grab an item at its best price of the year. Black Friday marks the highly-anticipated day of deals when shoppers nationwide arrive bright and early to fight over the last pack of 60% off LEGO sets. However, tumbleweeds swept through local Walmarts, Best Buys and Macy’s this Black Friday as workers opened their store doors to a nearly empty parking lot.

For decades, Black Friday welcomed the holiday spirit to the masses by joyfully beginning the Christmas present shopping season for people who love favorable discounts. In recent years, however, store companies disregard Black Friday and, in turn, offer lackluster deals that hardly save shoppers money. Spenders now stay inside this winter season and await the upcoming deal event: Cyber Monday.

“This year I shopped online. Online, Black Friday deals usually are multiple days long, so I shopped for several days. [I’d] rather do Black Friday shopping online because I heard that shopping in real life is super chaotic. Cyber Monday and Black Friday are pretty much the same thing online. But, I am more of a Cyber Monday girl than a Black Friday one,” magnet senior Lucy Costello said.

Catching momentum during the pandemic, online retailers such as Amazon and SHEIN produce the greatest deals year-round. With Cyber Monday’s enactment, consumers do not need to journey out of their beds to search for 10% off sales at their local department store. Amazon leads the Cyber Monday lineup with deals that knock the Black Friday competition out of water. With the usefulness of internet coupons and the adoption of Cyber Monday, there lies no reason to leave the house to finish Christmas shopping.

Regardless of its downfall, Black Friday continues to maintain an extensive following for those willing to test their luck. The unofficial holiday understandably sustained its place as a major American tradition and will continue to remain popular to older generations. However, reports of gimmicking and producer ploys began to rise in recent years, pushing younger generations away from seeing the appeal of the discounted day.

Target faced backlash from social media users for its Black Friday deals that matched their original prices. As companies continue to provide harrowing discounts and trick consumers into buying non-discounted items, loyal customers turn their backs on their favorite department stores, and the Black Friday tradition will inevitably fade away.

For stores that provide truthful deals, several concerns still push consumers away from shopping in November. Disregarding the distinctiveness of a single-day deal that Black Friday presents, numerous stores will instead enact a Black Friday holiday week sale. Numerous days of lowered prices allow shoppers additional time to visit the store throughout the week.

Using week-long sales, however, takes away from the excitement of a single-day deal. Stores fear a minor turnout but with the collaboration between the one-day sale and deals that exceed the usual discounts the store usually provides, both shoppers and producers will benefit.

“I don’t shop on Black Friday because it seems fun but not worth it. It’s too chaotic and I don’t want to go through the stress of waiting in lines. People do Black Friday for the sales, but I feel like I find those same prices on other days too. I just don’t see the point if I can get the same price another day without all the chaos,” magnet senior Denisse Galvan-Aguirre said.

 
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About the Contributor
Mia Kirkwood
Mia Kirkwood, Copy Editor
Mia-Dior Kirkwood, a senior at NC, is striding into The Chant office as an ambitious second-year editor. With a heart filled with love for research, engaging in polarizing discussions and media reporting, Kirkwood uses writing as a creative outlet to build new experiences and delve into new realms of the digital world.  When Kirkwood is not typing and editing for The Chant, they can be found researching topics such as political ideologies and spirituality, deep diving into new music discographies and journaling. Since they were young, researching philosophical concepts—especially those directly related to their upbringing and identity—has majorly affected their uniqueness in writing.  As they slowly edge toward the climax of their high school career, Kirkwood will continue to use the newspaper as an opportunity to turn that passion into truth and take part in the most fun-loving and inviting community of media lovers and creators at NC.