CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Is Black Friday still as popular as it used to be?
Let's connect the dots.
Holiday shopping fever began in 1924 with the original Christmas ad - The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - kicking off the holiday shopping season.
The term "Black Friday" didn't enter the national conversation until the late 1980s, when retailers turned it into an unofficial holiday.
The 2008 recession started what was thought to be the demise of Black Friday. Retailers embraced a new strategy, starting Black Friday sales earlier in the holiday season.
For 2024, the National Retail Federation predicts that over 180 million people will shop on Black Friday, one of the biggest crowds the retail holiday has ever seen
But this comes and more and more people are ditching the shopping holiday, choosing instead to shop online or earlier in the year. In fact, over half of Americans are now choosing to begin holiday shopping in early November.
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