The Friday after Thanksgiving used to be the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season — the "black" in Black Friday refers to the day that retailers start turning a profit or the mourning of their employees. Then it was Thursday night, then Thursday morning. Well, Walmart is threatening to stretch the idea of Friday beyond recognition, turning the sale into a weeklong affair
The sale starts with online-only specials Thanksgiving morning, continues in-store starting a 6 p.m., and lasting through "Cyber Monday." Walmart says that part of the purpose is to decrease the pressure on shoppers and stores, though it also says it is offering different "door-buster" sales each day. "It used to be called Black Friday, then it became Thursday, now it’s a week long," Walmart U.S. chief merchant Duncan Mac Naughton tells The Wall Street Journal. "Maybe we should just call it November."
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