Black Friday 2025: What is it? Know all about the biggest annual sale's origin, significance & more

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is considered to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year in the United States. It marks the beginning of the Christmas and holiday shopping season, and is known for massive discounts and bustling sales in stores and online.

But before Black Friday became associated with massive discounts and record-breaking sales volumes, it had a rather chaotic meaning, which is now long-faded and has been replaced by consumer spending and holiday preparations.

Black Friday: Significance and history

‘Black Friday’ first came from Philadelphia police in the 1950s-60s, to refer to post-Thanksgiving shopping chaos, heavy traffic jams, shoplifting, crowded streets for holiday shopping and the annual Army-Navy football game, and extra-long duty hours.

The term was negative and referred to the headache the day caused for police and bus drivers.

Why Is It Called “Black” Friday?

The term “Black” refers to stores going “into the black,” meaning becoming profitable. Historically, retailers operated “in the red” (loss) most of the year and turned profitable during Thanksgiving weekend.

Retailers initially disliked the negative name, but they couldn’t stop it from spreading. By the late 1980s, they rebranded the meaning to the more positive “red to black profits” explanation, in an attempt to replace the sale's connection to Philadelphia chaos.

Black Friday: Attempt to change name

Retailers had attempted to change the name of Black Friday to Big Friday, but the term never caught on. Instead, Black Friday gained popularity in the US through increased media coverage.

Black Friday Vs Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are both major shopping events of the year, but serve distinct purposes.

Black Friday, held the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally focuses on in-store and online deals with major discounts on electronics, appliances, fashion, and home goods.

Cyber Monday is observed on the Monday following Thanksgiving. It was created to promote online shopping and offers strong deals on tech, gadgets, accessories, and digital products.

However, most brands now merge both into a Cyber Week.