Black Friday Takes on New Meaning in 2008 (Touch Points by Andrew Jensen)

Black Friday didn’t just describe darkening consumer moods in the face of worsening economic data.

It became an all-too-accurate description of the horrific events at a Long Island Wal-Mart Supercenter when a stampede of shoppers trampled temporary employee Jdimytai Damour to death as he attempted to protect a fellow employee who was eight-months pregnant.

Some have argued that the mob madness that caused Damour’s death was all-too predictable. So, too, was blaming Wal-Mart.

Not surprisingly, Damour’s family has sued Wal-Mart, the shopping center where the Supercenter is located and a security company.

A segment on CNN focused nearly entirely on Wal-Mart’s potential liability in the case with perfect 20/20 hindsight for more security, less hype about low prices, etc.

The fact that tens of thousands of Black Friday store openings had gone off without a hitch – or any fatalities – across the country that same day was apparently irrelevant.

Also lost in the legal babble was the true outrage that should have been directed at every fellow citizen who crossed Wal-Mart’s threshold over the top of Damour’s body at the Valley Stream store in search of a $20 DVD player, Elmo or an iPod.

The fact that some refused to let even a death a few feet away shoo them away from their shopping is a sad commentary on the state of our culture, where the rise of me-first-ism has coincided with the demise of individual responsibility.

The retail business – and the American economy – depends on consumers craving goods and gadgets, and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press even attempted to lay the blame for Damour’s death at this industry’s door.

“Jdimytai Damour died because too many of us have bought, heart and soul, into the great lie of American consumerism: Acquiring stuff will make you whole,” wrote Leonard Pitts Jr.

Happiness through acquisition of “stuff” may be a great lie, but shopping for bargains on Black Friday doesn’t make anyone equal to those Long Island lunatics. Shifting the blame for a true “Black” Friday to anywhere but where it squarely belongs – on the shoulders of those shoppers – won’t make a similar tragedy any less likely.

A Look at NRF’s Survey Numbers

Black Friday wasn’t near as dreary as some retailers expected, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend Survey conducted by BIGResearch.

The NRF reported that Thursday-Sunday shopping attracted 172 million shoppers to stores and Web sites, a strong increase from 147 million in 2007.

The NRF/BIGResearch survey revealed shoppers spent an average of $372.57 over the weekend, a 7.2 percent increase from $347.55 in 2007.

However, a big jump in Black Friday traffic could spell bad news for the rest of the season.

With many reporting to be cutting back on gifts and people on Christmas lists, shoppers reported completing 39.3 percent of their shopping over the Black Friday weekend, up slightly from 36.4 percent in 2007.

The NRF is sticking to its projection of a 2.2 percent increase in holiday sales over 2007, rising to $470.4 billion.