Last week, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, that meant another "holiday" was soon approaching.
Black Friday was on its way leaving consumers with feelings of glee and retail workers with detest.
Let's start out by describing how Black Friday got its name.
The most commonly accredited theory is that this day is when retailers will finally see a profit for the year, meaning they are now "in the black".
For more information on how the day got its name, and other information about Black Friday 2011, click here.
This year, many stores opened earlier than ever, with Walmart heading the pack.
According to the store's Website, the super-store opened its doors to customers at 10 p.m.on Thanksgiving Day offering limited deals. Electronics and other "big ticket" items were not available until midnight.
According to Patricia Huddleston, an expert on E-commerce, new democracies and retailing and shopping attitudes at Michigan State University said that because of Walmart's store hours, stores like Kohl's and Target opened at midnight.
Huddleston said from a retailer standpoint, Black Friday helps generate a lot of traffic for stores and that they need to be open because their competitors are open. If the stores chose to open later in the day, they would be at a competitive disadvantage.
She said it can also be worth it from a consumer standpoint because of the savings they receive.
However, it is up to the consumer if the savings are worth the hassle.
Huddleston herself does not shop on Black Friday.
For live tweets on Black Friday, click here and look for the hash tag #BlackFriday
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