Why "Black Friday" is Suddenly "Green Friday"

Black Friday... two words that can fill the average retail worker with dread. Traditionally, the name of this "retail holiday" came from the fact that it was considered to be the day of the year when most stores would finally turn a profit for the year; their books would shift from red to black. It's the busiest shopping day of the year, but in recent years many retailers have decided that the name sounds a bit too somber for their liking.

It's understandable, of course; before the term came into popular use in retail slang, it was also the term used to refer to September 24th, 1869. That was the date that the Fisk-Gould Scandal came to a head and resulted in the gold market crashing and many investors being financially ruined. The term also brings to mind other financial disasters, such as Black Tuesday and Black Thursday in 1929 when the stock market crashed twice and which are seen as the starting point of the Great Depression.

Given economic slowdowns and major financial crises such as the US subprime mortgage crisis and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, many retailers aren't wanting to associate the day that they count on to bring in huge sales with any sort of financial tragedy. Instead, more and more they've been referring to the day after Thanksgiving as "Green Friday"... both to associate it with the color of the money they hope their customers will spend and as a subliminal clue that the Christmas shopping season is "go."

Retail outlets and store owners aren't the only ones jumping on the "Green Friday" bandwagon, though... a number of credit watchdog groups are hoping to use the term to help consumers reduce credit card debt and control the increase of credit card spending that occurs around the holiday season. They challenge shoppers to only spend "green" on Green Friday; leave the credit cards at home, and only spend the cash that you bring with you. This tactic isn't necessarily endorsed by the banks who issued those credit cards, of course, since they look forward to the surge in spending on the day after Thanksgiving just as much as retailers do.