PHOTOS: Black Friday frenzy goes global – and not everyone’s happy
by Associated PressMacy’s Herald Square opens its doors at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day for thousands of Black Friday shoppers in search of amazing sales and doorbuster deals, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019 in New York. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Macy’s)Customers shop for apparel at Walmart’s Black Friday store event, on Thursday Nov. 28, in Bentonville, Ark. (Gunnar Rathbun/AP Images for Walmart)Manuel Gonzalez, 7, of Worcester, Mass., admires the laptop computers at BJ’s Wholesale Club, while shopping with his father, Louis Gonzalez, during BJ’s 11 Days of Black Friday Event on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 in Northborough, Mass. (Josh Reynolds/AP Images for BJ’s Wholesale Club) Manuel Gonzalez, 7, of Worcester, Mass., admires the laptop computers at BJ’s Wholesale Club, while shopping with his father, Louis Gonzalez, during BJ’s 11 Days of Black Friday Event on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 in Northborough, Mass. (Josh Reynolds/AP Images for BJ’s Wholesale Club)Tractor Supply Company clerk Alex Ehasz, center, helps customer Scott Campbell at the Ashtabula Township, Ohio, store around 6 a.m. on Friday Nov. 29, 2019. The 2019 holiday season will be a good measure of the U.S. economy’s health. (Warren Dillaway /The Star-Beacon via AP)Black Friday shoppers crowd the aisles at Brass Pro Shops at Patriot Place in Foxboro, Mass. Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Black Friday once again kicks off the start of the holiday shopping season. But with six fewer days than last year, it will be the shortest season since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the fourth Thursday in November, the latest possible date it could be. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle via AP) Black Friday shoppers crowd the aisles at Brass Pro Shops at Patriot Place in Foxboro, Mass. Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Black Friday once again kicks off the start of the holiday shopping season. But with six fewer days than last year, it will be the shortest season since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the fourth Thursday in November, the latest possible date it could be. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle via AP)BJ’s Wholesale Club member Andrew Pafaff of Southborough, Mass., reloads his cart as Team Member Victor Masciarelli rings him up during BJ’s 11 Days of Black Friday Event on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 in Northborough, Mass. (Josh Reynolds/AP Images for BJ’s Wholesale Club)Balo Balogun labels items in preparation for a holiday sale at a Walmart Supercenter, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in Las Vegas. Black Friday once again kicks off the start of the holiday shopping season. But it will be the shortest season since 2013 because of Thanksgiving falling on the fourth Thursday in November, the latest possible date it can be. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in France, or Denmark, or South Africa – but they do shop on Black Friday.
The U.S. sales phenomenon has spread to retailers across the world in recent years with such force that it’s prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers.
Workers at Amazon in Germany went on strike for better pay on one of the busiest days of the year. Near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked one of the company’s warehouses on Thursday to protest over-production they say is killing the planet. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday altogether.
Consumer rights groups in Britain and some other countries say it’s not always clear how real or big the discounts are. Other critics say it hurts small businesses.
Angela Charlton And Claire Parker, The Associated Press
