Holiday Shopping Sees Flood of Shoopers—and Arrests
Posted on: 11/27/2011
San Leandro has become the center of national attention as Black Friday shopping was marked by violence across the country.
News reports have flooded in from across the country with tales of assaults as shoppers duked it out in crowds, to dramatic footage of a shopper pepper spraying other shoppers to try and get an X-Box. San Leandro made headlines with a shooting outside the local Walmart.
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Many non-retail workers have the day after Thanksgiving off, which means millions of extra shoppers pouring into shopping venues to grab holiday deals. It is considered to be the busiest shopping day of the year.
Financial analysts often use sales data from the weekend as indicators of economic health. In fact one explanation of the term “Black Friday” is that it is the day in which retailers make enough revenue to be financially “in the black” or profitable.
The uptick in crime was actually anticipated because of the economic woes facing the country. The NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) even published a ten point checklist for Black Friday safety which included standard safety advice– like not leaving visible packages in the car and only buying what you can carry—combined with more 2011 advice like shopping online instead through reputable retailers.
Let’s hope the rest of the holiday shopping season is less eventful, and stay safe out there!
