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Harvesting a Horn O' Plenty of Deals for the Holidays

The holidays are upon us and it's time for making the list and checking it twice! Many enjoy the phenomina of Black Friday to knock out their holiday shopping. The thrill of bringing in the haul before the light of day is right up their alley! Yet some wise soul in the cyber world came to the rescue of the rest of us who prefer to sleep off the Thanksgiving feast and thus Cyber Monday was born!

Ever wonder how these infamous days came into existence? Below is a brief history of both days along with links to sites that will give you up-to-date deals from all the stores. Whether your a before dawn deal finder or a cup of coffee at the computer consumer, you'll be armed and ready to reap the savings!

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products. Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve or the last Saturday before Christmas.

The origin of the name, "Black Friday" historically comes from the retailer's shift to profitability during the holiday season. Back in the day when accounting records were kept by hand, red ink indicated financial loss while black ink indicated profit, thus coining the popular fiscal terms of being "in the red," (losing money) or "in the black" (profitable).

As Black Friday is the day many U.S. consumers typically begin their Christmas shopping, sales are heavily promoted by retailers throughout the country. Stores are often decorated for the Christmas seasons weeks before-hand and retailers open very early (typically 5 A.M.) to offer "door buster deals", "loss leaders" and incentives to draw people to their shops. Although the day after Thanksgiving has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season for decades, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1970s and did not achieve widespread use and popularity until 2002.

Haven't heard of Cyber Monday? Well, you might be missing out on some great deals you may have missed on Black Friday! Instead of looking for your car keys simply log on to the Internet and scan your favorite online shops or informative sites to find even more great deals!

The term Cyber Monday started in 2005 when Internet use and sales were booming. Queues in stores were suddenly running a lot smoother and retailers around the world started to wonder if shoppers had just suddenly given up on Christmas shopping. It was soon revealed that store stock was still being sold, even though they had not seen as many shoppers. The Internet unexpectedly created a whole new way to engage in holiday retail shopping.

Enjoy the holidays and reap the rewards of these time and money saving tips!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us at Coleman, Etter-Fontaine Realtors