Black Friday

Have you noticed all the Black Friday sales banners popping up everywhere?

A few years ago, Black Friday wasn’t a thing in Australia.

It’s a sale period that originated in the US and refers to sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving. It marks the start of the Christmas shopping season for Americans and, like Australia’s Boxing Day sales, creates large scale hysteria in malls across the US.

I wrote an article about its kick off back in 2018 called “Black Friday bombs for Australian drinks retailers”.

Specialty food and drink retailers reported no uplift in sales during that first Black Friday shopping period.

Across the board, their sales actually dropped by 13% compared to 2017. There was speculation that it was because Black Friday had very different connotations in Australia due to bushfires. Also that it was being lumped with Halloween by shoppers and regarded as a Yank affectation.

However, in 2022 Black Friday is definitely a thing.

And it’s perfectly timed for a new home owner who just sold or gave away most of her worldly possessions.

While it officially doesn’t start until November 24, lots of retailers are already advertising their specials.

I am doubling down on my uptake of the concept and buying lots of black things in the Black Friday sales.

I’ve decided my colour theme for my new apartment is black and white with splashes of green.

My first purchase was a black dining setting and a black TV unit.

I have my eye on a black outdoor setting as my next purchase.

There may also be some black cupboards on the horizon.

And I quite fancy a black and white inlay coffee table I’ve spotted.

The funny thing about buying furniture in Black Friday sales is that the fine print on many items reveals they won’t be ready for delivery for six months.

That’s not my kind of bargain. I need something to sit on right now.

I can’t give spending my full attention however because I am busy, busy, busy managing a website redesign that has just kicked off at work.

I have my first weekly WIP with the web developers this morning.

It is an exciting change from when I worked for a previous employer and wasn’t allowed to attend any meetings or offer any opinions on the new website that was being built for the business.

The website ended up being a bit shite. I’d like my lack of involvement to take full credit for that result, but it was also because the developers were hopeless.

I will never understand why the person most qualified to run the project was the one who was silenced.

It is pretty daft to not let the person who works on the website every day and knows its digital requirements inside out not to have a say in its new design.

But there are sooooooooo many things that will forever confound me about the way they operated.

Anyways, back to happy thoughts about homewares …

Perhaps I’ll buy a black bin for the kitchen …

Song of the day: ACDC “Back in black”