Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the two busiest shopping days of the year. Stores lower their prices substantially on items in their stores, and try and make the most revenue they can. Shoppers take advantage of these low prices, and get a lot of their Christmas shopping done early.

Black Friday began in the 1950’s, but really got its name in 1966 when police in Philadelphia used it to describe the chaos on the two days following Thanksgiving. Recently, stores have been opening on Thanksgiving at around 6:00 pm to begin their doorbuster sales. Thanksgiving is perceived as a time to be thankful, and to spend time with your family. People instead are cutting their time short, to go out shopping so that they get the gifts on the top of their list before they are sold out.  

“It is wrong to be open on Thanksgiving and stores shouldn’t do it. Thanksgiving is family time,” junior Alyssa Denneson said.  

Mall of America, Ikea, Costco, T.J.Max and Menards are a couple of the stores that put an end to Black Friday starting on Thursday this year. They want their employees to be able to enjoy their Thanksgiving, and not have to work on a holiday that is all about giving thanks while spending time with friends and family.  

“I don’t think that Black Friday should be open on Thursday. It takes away the meaning of Thanksgiving. Black Friday should just be open for 24 hours on Friday,” senior Maja Peterson said.

On the record, there are nine deaths and 102 injuries that were a result of the black friday chaos in the last 20 years, according to Black Friday Death Count. People get trampled by others rushing in when the store doors open. Also, angry customers shoot and stab other customers and employees to get their most desired item, or a better spot in line.

Cyber Monday began Nov. 28, 2005 when it became the biggest online shopping days of the year. Cyber Monday has similar deals as Black Friday, and many stores, such as Target and Walmart, start their online sales Thanksgiving day. This is a chance for people to buy more items for themselves or others, without waiting in line at a store.  

“I prefer Cyber Monday over Black Friday because it is less crazy. I buy christmas presents for younger kids like toys and tween clothes,” spanish teacher Lori Wooley said.

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The statistics of Black Friday and Cyber Monday show that Cyber Monday is becoming more popular each year, and is surpassing Black Friday in sales, according to How Stuff Works. Since 2009, the Cyber Monday sales have tripled, and were, in fact, at 3.04 billion dollars last year. Another perk that shoppers like about Cyber Monday is that it is easy to compare prices on items on the computer before purchasing, rather than buying it in the store and returning it.

“I think that we should focus on spending time with our family, and just enjoying their company and not have to worry about cutting the celebration short so that we can all go out and do our shopping. Shopping can be done on any other day of the year, it doesn’t need to be done on Thanksgiving and I praise the stores that are getting the bigger picture and waiting until Friday to open,” sophomore Audra Mckenzie said.