Belleville prepares for Black Friday

By Kyle Mumford

The term Black Friday was first used by Philadelphia Police in 1966 to explain the monstrous traffic jams and packed sidewalks during the day after Thanksgiving sales in the city.

Since then, the holiday has boomed into the largest shopping day in the United States and has seeped across the border to infect Canada.  National Retail Foundation projects the amount of shoppers in 17 states to be over 150 million, up from 138 million the year before.  These large crowds can often lead to stampedes and even violence in some situations.  In 2008, a 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee was killed beneath the feet of a wild bunch of bargain hunters.

For the first time, approximately 30 downtown businesses in Belleville are getting into the Black Friday spirit. Bill Saunders, CEO of the Belleville District Chamber of Commerce, said it’s a cool idea.  The stores will be offering lots of secret specials, Saunders said.

Jane Nicol, owner of The Village Shop, in conjunction with the Belleville Downtown Improvement Area, began the coordination of the Black Friday sales among the local businesses.

“I saw lots of advertising for Black Friday in Canada and I thought we should use that advertising to bring shoppers downtown,” Nicol said.

“They’re trying to improve the area, to get the attention of Belleville shoppers and bring them downtown,” said Katharine Sprague, Belleville Downtown Improvement Area coordinator.

With the Canadian dollar hovering around parity, many Canadians are willing to make the trip, sitting in lines at the border, battling through traffic and wading through seas of shoppers.  In order to compete with our neighbours to the south, companies like Dell, Sears, EB Games and others are offering Canadian shoppers similar deals here at home.  The Quinte Mall in Belleville will have a tax-free sale Friday, November 25 until 11 p.m.

Not everyone is supporting the spirit of consumption this holiday season.  Vancouver based anti-consumerist magazine AdBusters is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Buy Nothing Day campaign, urging shoppers not to make any purchases on November 25 to protest the culture of consumption.  The movement has gained momentum over the years and is now an international campaign.

Along with Black Friday, downtown businesses of Belleville will be hosting moonlight shopping every Thursday through the month of December to continue their campaign to improve downtown Belleville.