Black Friday is an informal name forthe Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United
States,which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Black Friday has been regarded as
the beginning of America's Christmas shopping season since 1952.Many stores offer highly
promoted sales on Black Friday and open very early, such as at midnight, or may even start their
sales at some time on Thanksgiving. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but California and some
other states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees,
sometimes in lieu of another federal holiday, such as Columbus Day. Many non-retail employees
and schools have both Thanksgiving and the following Friday off, which, along with the
following regular weekend, makes it a four-day weekend, thereby increasing the number of
potential shoppers. Black Friday has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year in the
United States since 2005.