What Happened to Black Friday?

from Reminisce Audio ® Hosted by Steph Shoell

Black Friday used to feel like a moment and then it quietly became a metric. What once meant early mornings, long lines, and shared chaos shifted dramatically as deals spread across entire weeks and screens replaced storefronts, a change that fully crystallized in 2021. Online Black Friday spending surpassed $9 billion in a single day in 2021, marking a turning point where convenience officially overtook tradition. At the same time, in-store shopping continued to decline as retailers leaned into extended promotions and consumers prioritized predictability, safety, and time trends tracked by the National Retail Federation. The pandemic accelerated what was already happening: when sales are always available and deals last all month, the urgency fades, the ritual disappears, and Black Friday stops feeling like an event and starts feeling like just another scroll. Questions to Ponder & Ask Your Family What was your first Black Friday experience, and who were you with? And what did you get? Did your family treat Black Friday like a tradition or just a shopping day? Were you still shopping in stores or had you already moved online by 2021? What did we gain with the shift to convenience, and what did we lose?