These Black Friday facts will have you staying home.
As Thanksgiving approaches, so too does Black Friday, an annual reminder that as much as we like to give thanks, we absolutely love to consume goods. Whether you participate or not, the colossal shopping day has become firmly embedded within our cultural fabric. Here are some Black Friday facts you may find shocking:
From 2006 to the present, there have been 7 known Black Friday-related deaths and 98 Black Friday-related injuries.Flickr/Diariocritico de VenezuelaA Long Island Walmart temp worker was trampled to death on Black Friday 2008. Paramedics who tried to help the man were also trampled.Wikimedia Commons/PowhuskuThat same yaer, a Black Friday shooting at a Toys 'R' Us left two dead.Wikimedia CommonsIn 2012, two people were shot outside a Florida Walmart over a parking space.WikipediaIn 2011, a shopper at a California Walmart showered pepper spray at fellow Black Friday deal seekers, leaving dozens of people with irritated noses and throats. Wikipedia/Katrina L. Beeler41 cases of Black Friday pepper spray incidents have been reported since 2006.WikipediaThe most dangerous place to shop on Black Friday is Walmart, in terms of the amount of Black Friday-related deaths and injuries that have taken place there.Flickr/WalmartIn 2013, 137 million shoppers participated in Black Friday. That's a little more than the entire population of Japan.Wikimedia Commons/JoelinQueensBlack Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year. In general, it's the Saturday before Christmas.Flickr/The Pug FatherAccording to one poll, 21% of shoppers say they've never missed a Black Friday.PixabayThe phrase Black Friday was first used in the 19th century to describe a stock market crash.WikipediaThe term gets its present day meaning from a labor market newsletter, which used it to describe the suspiciously high level of sickness the day after Thanksgiving.PixabayPolice in 1960s Philadelphia first popularized "Black Friday," saying it to express their frustration at the congestion shoppers caused that day.Flickr/JoiseyshowaaIt was only in the 1990s that "Black Friday" became a national term.Flickr/Sue ClarkIn 2011, 226 million Americans purchased $52 billion worth of goods during the Thanksgiving weekend.Wikimedia CommonsFor comparison's sake, that's a little more than the GDP of Ethiopia.Wikimedia Commons/A. DaveyIn 2012, average consumer spending on Black Friday was $423 per person, a 13% increase from 2011.Wikimedia Commons/Ray BouknightAccording to one survey, nearly one in ten Black Friday shoppers admit they'd break the speed limit or cut lines to get into a store earlier.Flickr/Nathan E. PhotographyIn the same survey, 18 percent of those polled would not step away from a Black Friday sale no matter how long the line was.Flickr/Patrick HoeslyOn average, the survey reported that Black Friday shoppers are willing to wait in a 2.5 hour line for a Black Friday deal.Flickr/Judit KleinSome Black Friday "deals" aren't actually deals: many Black Friday items are originally priced with the future discount built in.PhotoSpin
