The Friday after Thanksgiving has become a shopping phenomena in the United States, with hordes of shoppers queueing up at all hours of the night for discounted holiday goods. The annual tradition has even resulted in deaths, with victims crushed to death by teeming crowds. Even when the sales stay under control, images of crazed shoppers running through stores across the country invariably make headlines on what has been the country's busiest shopping day of the year since at least 2005.
However, Americans aren't the only ones bitten by the holiday shopping bug. Around the globe, major holidays, from Ramadan to the Chinese New Year, send crowds searching for gifts, groceries, and garlands for the festivities. Think your holiday routine is stressful? Take heart: you are not alone.
Above, Sunday shoppers crowd a narrow street in the Ameyoko shopping district in Tokyo on Dec. 27, 2009. More than one million people were expected to visit the district until Dec. 31 to buy groceries in preparation for the New Year's holiday, one of the most important holiday events in Japan.
TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images



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ASCHOPS
12:17 AM ET
November 25, 2011
What's the point?
What's the point?
PVCBLINDS
9:48 AM ET
November 25, 2011
Shopping Madness
How can anyone just browse what is on offer by the local traders there when they are so pushed along in the madding crowd for the festivities.
Its not everyones ideal solution to christmas shopping thats for sure, and for many people going somewhere where theLandscaping is more alluring is more comforting than trawling through crowds of people looking for presents.
RICHARD_KING
1:00 AM ET
November 30, 2011
Always amazing
It just always absolutely amazes me just how crazy black friday shoppers are. Was terrible this year about shoppers getting peper sprayed in line, just trying to find discounts on tvs and engagement ring prices and find the best deals on everything else. But as other commenters have said they often aren't really deals, just mark downs on the original markups. But hey, as long as they had fun
AS456
10:40 AM ET
November 25, 2011
While online retailers can be
While online retailers can be very inexpensive and easy to use, nothing beats going shopping on Black Friday. You can find great prices on expensive gifts and have a great time doing it with friends or relatives. kompiuteriu remontas Vilniuje I understand that online shopping is taking flight and will eventually turn into the shopping experience of the future, but Black Friday is just as big a part of Thanksgiving as the turkey itself.
JAMESONWHI
2:11 PM ET
November 25, 2011
The friday after thanks giving is usually madness
I remember what the shopping was like in the big apple, people were all over the place and the cues in the shops were redicoulous and the weather was freezing..
Luckily I managed to grab myself a really helpful mortgage calculator and it helped me figure out my repayments and get a mortgage.. but black friday shopping is crazy
ANGELIE
12:39 PM ET
November 26, 2011
Black Friday Craze
Black Friday sure is a crazy crazy day and seems to be catching on around the world. I was glad to get out of the overcrowded store I was at with my hair still in place and the cargo pants that I got on sale in one piece.
DELMONTE01
2:49 PM ET
November 26, 2011
queueing up at all hours of the night?
Queueing up at all hours of the night, more fool them. They should of just done there shopping online. Waiting for hours in line only to find what you wanted is all sold out is no fun at all.
- Vince Delmonte
ISSUESCLICK
7:23 PM ET
November 26, 2011
wow
Thanks a lot for your working.
The Sears Black Friday sale is live, with tons of doorbuster deals between 4 am and 1 pm. Save up to 70% on all fine jewelry - plus an extra 20% off - and get up to 50% off washers and dryers. There's an early bird coupon for $10 off any clothing, intimate, or accessories purchase of $30 or more before 1 pm.
Black Friday is now the most popular shopping day of the year. People look forward to Black Friday for months, painstakingly planning their shopping strategies and even camping overnight to take advantage of amazing doorbusters and huge savings on the hottest items of the year.
Whether you prefer to do your shopping in front of the computer or hit the stores, trust BlackFriday.info to keep you in the know about Black Friday 2011. Sign up for our emails so we can notify you about Black Friday deals and ad scans as soon as they are released.
The phenomenon is called Black Friday in America - an ominous-sounding phrase that sounds like it should be the name of a stock market crash.
But it actually refers to the practice of stores opening early the day after Thanskgiving and offering one-off bargains to kick off the Christmas rush.
In America, stores open as early as 4am - and today, 9,000 hopeful shoppers were reportedly queueing outside retail giant Macy's.
Now Britain is catching on to the idea, and one of the first companies to join in in is Apple, who are offering bargain prices both on- and offfline, for November 25 only.
Now Britain is catching on to the idea, and one of the first companies to join in in is Apple, who are offering bargain prices both on- and offfline, for November 25 only.
It's a highly unusual move for the company, which famously never reduces prices.
'Even getting money off an Apple product is amazing,' says Mark Wilson, Features Editor of Britain's Stuff Magazine, 'Although British shoppers won't be familiar with the idea of Black Friday - which is, let's face it, a very odd name - it's a good way to pick up bargains, even if the cuts aren't THAT deep.'
Black Friday sure is a crazy crazy day and seems to be catching on around the world. I was glad to get out of the overcrowded store I was at with my hair still in place and the cargo pants that I got on sale in one piece.
I remember what the shopping was like in the big apple, people were all over the place and the cues in the shops were redicoulous and the weather was freezing..
Luckily I managed to grab myself a really helpful mortgage calculator and it helped me figure out my repayments and get a mortgage.. but black friday shopping is crazy
Thanks
Admin of wall clocks | Kettles
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7:49 PM ET
November 26, 2011
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8:35 AM ET
November 27, 2011
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KASSIE RUSO
6:29 PM ET
November 27, 2011
The lines are being blurred
Holiday shopping seems to start sooner and sooner each year. The shopping centers around the world seem to almost ignore the less profitable holidays and put up marketing for the most profitable holidays too early. Why? Just to make more profit? We seem to be loosing the meanings of the holidays and instead are thrust into million dollar marketing campains. fast cash commissions review
AKERN
1:08 AM ET
November 28, 2011
It was aweful here in the bay area!
An insider told me that big companies increase prices before the season, and then bring it back to normal during the season, to give the illusion that you're getting a deal, when you're really not!!
As an Oakland plumber , I always make sure I serve my clients, and give them real discounts during the season.
NICKIJAMES
2:53 AM ET
November 28, 2011
You Couldn't Pay Me to Go Out in That Mess
I can't even imagine going out if I had to face a crowd like the one in the picture above. Not for all the tea in China!
It's bad enough here in the US. Coming home at 11:30 Thanksgiving evening there were lines for blocks and blocks at Target and Walmart. A friend of mine that's in Fargo said even up there, in a fairly small town the lines were long and the people were crazy, fighting to grab the best deals.
YOUNG81J
4:09 PM ET
November 30, 2011
A Sobering Thought
I am somewhat shocked finding out that the US is not the only ones that have a black Friday. I know I shouldn’t be Christmas is celebrated all over the world and just because every country doesn’t have a thanksgiving doesn’t mean they don’t have their own black Friday.
What is very sobering is the reminder that people have actually died in the rush to get the best price on a gift be it Breville Juicers or the newest xbox. We do need to remember that these are pretty good deals but nothing worth killing or ending up dead over. The holidays are suppose to be fun we would do well to remember that
BARBARA4550
11:11 PM ET
December 13, 2011
I thought Black Friday was only A US thing
I am actually pretty surprised that there is black Friday in Japan and in other countries. I really thought that this was something that was only a US type thing. But then again there are crazy shoppers all over the globe. pimples on face I cant imagine people actually going out at midnight and in some cases later to grab some deals and save a few bucks. But if these stores weren't all cashing in on it I guess they wouldn't have these sales every year after thanksgiving.