I hate Black Friday
I own a retail store, and I hate Black Friday.
I hate overconsumption in general, but particularly when it comes to overconsuming poor quality items that will be discarded next month. Its negative effects on our lives and our planet have already been well documented, so I won't do that here.
I won't wax poetically about the irony of celebrating a day of thankfulness and gratitude with family and friends, only to wake up 4 am the next morning to go max out your credit card on fast fashion, the latest kitchen gadget, or the 6th TV for your house of 4.
But wait, I own a retail store. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably to some extent. Yes, we even run some Black Friday and Small Business Saturday (of course) promotions. So how do I square that with my disdain for this this shopping weekend?
I suppose I don't feel so bad because the majority of what we sell is consumables. Dog and cat food, treats, etc. Yes, we also sell high quality accessories and toys for dogs and cats. But in reality, the majority of what people purchase from us this weekend are things that they have to buy anyway, and the discount is more of a "thank you" for supporting our little store and to encourage more of our community to shop local when they need to shop.
But we've also created a culture around our business that I believe discourages overconsumption in general. We have often told people that they should put things back, or buy nothing because they don't need it. The non-consumables we sell are higher quality and more durable than other retailers, thus lasting longer and rarely (if ever) needing to be replaced. We keep our prices as low as possible at all times and rarely do sales and promos beyond manufacturer rebates.
As a small business, we also simply can't afford to lose money on items we sell to trick you into buying more the way that Amazon and other large corporations do. And we wouldn't if we could, because I think that's unethical.
We've created this culture in our store to the extent that when we've tried to do big sales in the past, they were actually pretty ineffective and didn't cause anyone to purchase something that they didn't already come in planning to purchase.
This post didn't go where I thought it would. I didn't plan to talk about my own business so much. So maybe I'll leave it at this:
If there's something you need or have been planning to purchase for a while anyway, go ahead and get the discount. It's fine.
But if you can look at your life and look around your house and realize that, like most Americans, you have everything you need and more, maybe don't buy the thing just because it's on sale.
Remember: It's 100% off if you buy nothing.