TODAY we celebrate the annual shopping event that takes place on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, it is Black Friday.
Black Friday is an informal name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. A shopping tradition for most Americans looking for good deals. Retailers across the country cut down prices for almost everything, from toys to electronics and appliances. Many stores offer highly promoted sales and open very early, such as at midnight or some start their sales at some time on Thanksgiving.
Black Friday has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States since 2005. Usually, weeks before the Black Friday event, you get a flyer from every retail store especially the big box store offering good deals, one reason people really spend time planning their shopping list for this day.
Black Friday is a shopping day for a combination of reasons. As the first day after the last major holiday before Christmas, marking the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Virtually all retailers in the country, big and small, offer various sales including limited amounts of doorbuster items to entire traffic. Some gather their family together, creating a plan and strategy to grab deals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend of online shopping, prompting more consumers to choose digital transactions over in-store visits. This shift has led to changes in how retailers approach Black Friday, with a greater emphasis on online deals. While Black Friday remains a significant shopping event, the dynamics of how and when consumers shop continue to evolve, reflecting changes in technology, consumer behavior, and societal values.
So, today, shop your hearts out, may it be in-store or online, gear up and start this day by doing your Christmas shopping early on Black Friday. This is the best day to grab better deals on toys, electronics, and appliances. Share on social media your experience these years using #BlackFriday.
History Throwback!
2011 Dr. Conrad Murray received a four-year sentence for Michael Jackson’s death
On November 29, 2011, Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of singer Michael Jackson, was sentenced in a Los Angeles County courtroom to four years behind bars. The iconic pop star died at age 50 at his California home after suffering cardiac arrest while under the influence of propofol, a surgical anesthetic given to him by Murray as a sleep aid.
Jackson, who was born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana, rose to fame performing as a boy with his older brothers in a music group called the Jackson 5. With his 1982 solo album “Thriller,” Jackson achieved international superstardom. However, by the 1990s, he became known for increasingly eccentric and reclusive behavior, and his physical appearance was radically altered through multiple plastic surgeries. In 2005, amidst intense media coverage, Jackson was tried and acquitted on child molestation charges.
In March 2009, after a long time away from the public spotlight, Jackson announced he would perform a series of comeback concerts in London starting in July. That spring, Murray, a cardiologist raised in Trinidad, was hired at a monthly salary of $150,000 to serve as Jackson’s personal physician while the singer rehearsed for his upcoming shows. Late in the morning on June 25, Jackson was found unconscious in bed in his mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles by Murray, who tried unsuccessfully to revive him. The legendary entertainer was pronounced dead at 2:26 that afternoon at nearby Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dr-conrad-murray-receives-four-year-sentence-in-michael-jacksons-death)
