By Staff Writer Maddie Kenn.
After gathering around the dining room table with friends and family on Thanksgiving day, a majority of malls and store doors opened at midnight, awaiting for the rush of customers to swarm in. Every Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, customers line up outside of businesses, anticipating on making huge purchases that are discounted for the holiday season.
The term “Black Friday” was first used in the United States to describe a financial crisis in the late 1800s. On Friday, September 24, 1869, two individuals attempted to take over the gold market in the New York Gold Exchange. The tradition was known for the day it took place on until civilians in Philadelphia referred to it as “Black Friday” due to the traffic and pedestrian accidents the event had caused. To this day, people all over the world take advantage of retailers extremely low prices to kick off the holiday season and to get a head start on purchasing Christmas gifts.
This year, a few staff members of The Torch participated in Black Friday at the Braintree mall. The parking lot was full of cars, having license plates from Massachusetts, to across the country or out of state. You’d be lucky to find an empty parking spot after 12 am. Upon entering the mall, lines were forming outside of stores, customers waiting for the bars to be lifted. Aroma’s of Auntie Anne’s pretzels and frozen custard filled the air, as several people moved up and down the escalators, bags in hand. As an addition to low prices, and various sales, Kiss 108 made an appearance for the event. Macy’s customers lined up to receive free Iheartradio items such as t-shirts, celebrity cutouts, keychains and more! Customers also had the opportunity to enter their names in a drawing to win tickets to this year’s Jingle Ball. All night, winners were being announced on the loudspeaker as the radio station played music throughout the store. Free samples were being given out throughout the night, as customers shopped with little to no sleep. Young shoppers were found sitting on couches and beds in furniture stores with their friends in the middle of the night, fighting off the little hours of sleep they were running on. The line to Dunkin Donuts was overwhelmingly long, as people caffeinated themselves for more energy. The food court was also jam packed, as expected. There were even the brave few who decided to shop until they drop, and that’s meant quite literally, shopping from 12 am to that following night.
The day following Black Friday was Cyber Monday, another opportunity to shop under ridiculously low deals, but without having to leave the premises. Clothing stores had various promo codes and discounts for online shoppers and deals for those shopping for christmas gifts for friends and family. It was a successful holiday season regarding Black Friday and Cyber Monday.