Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving day in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day and is a holiday in some states.
Some people use this holiday to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season.
Shopping for Christmas presents is also popular on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys.
But, why is it called Black Friday??
Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday.
One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.
The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.
Black Friday in Spain
This year I have noticed that some important departmet stores in Spain such as El Corte Inglés have copied this American tradition hoping to increase benefits.