We like to think that most people are better than the shopping cart wars, 4 AM door rushes and general lack of humanity that seems to have become the day after Thanksgiving … commonly referred to as Black Friday. Some marketer decided that it would be a good idea to celebrate what was once a full weekend of turkey naps broken up by backyard flag football games, by dropping a day in the middle where stores would offer insane deals to lure people away from their families, and into their neon lit aisles of consumerism.
I think we can all agree that it’s gotten a bit out of hand. Deals often extending into weekends, finished off with the new phenomenon of Cyber Monday. What happened to just eating followed by a heavy dose of NFL football? Maybe a surf if the sweet potato coma wears off (no guarantee). Now, the fork barely hits the plate before we are lining up to get the new fill in the blank item of the season that won’t work by this time next year. So, it’s nice to know that many companies are jumping on the “this is just getting out of hand” bandwagon and changing their holiday strategies for the better.
Bitter? Maybe a little. Ready for a change? You bet your ass we are.
The Whalebone crew discussed even closing our Pop-Up (located at 310 Bowery – shameless plug) for this day of shopping cart mayhem, but hey we are just starting out and we have things like rent and bills to pay. Being open only 6 weeks, days off aren’t really in the cards. So we came up with a Plan B. No discounts. Not for our friends. Not for our family. Not even for Charlie.
Instead of a 20% discount storewide for the weekend, we are having a Full Price Friday, donating 20% of profits to the Bowery Mission, to provide food and shelter for those that are less fortunate and in our own neighborhood. We encourage everyone to not just buy things you don’t need this season because they are at a discount, but perhaps purchase a gift for your friend or loved one, knowing that you are also supporting a good cause.
In the end the consumer is responsible for how the corporations operate, by dictating what, when, and why they purchase things. If we all make the smart choice to be conscious in our purchasing habits this holiday, we can be the change we want to see. Yes — we steal quotes sometimes.
So from this Friday, November 28th, through Sunday the 30th, 20% of all sales at the Whalebone Pop-Up Shop will go directly to helping the homeless this holiday season.
Life is pretty good. Enjoy the weekend, and we look forward to seeing you if you plan on stopping by.
