A classic American tradition is the long-awaited, Black Friday shopping. The day after Thanksgiving is when this crazed occurrence takes place. The concept of Black Friday is to offer discounts to shoppers before the holiday season ,attracting more shoppers, causing stores to make more money.  A deadly pandemic is floating among us, so how can this consumer-packed discount day occur? Is Black Friday cancelled this year?

The question of the shopping event is different for each location and store. An obvious requirement of all Black Friday shoppers is to wear a mask and to make an effort to maintain social distancing. Individual stores are having limits of those allowed in stores due to pandemic and overcrowding reasons. There are some stores that are only doing Cyber-Monday deals, which is essentially Black Friday shopping online. The safety of consumers is the main priority of some stores to the point where they will not operate on Black Friday. 

The malls around us, in Pittsburgh, have mostly planned to shut down on Black Friday this year. The most popular mall near us, Ross Park Mall, has decided to close for the shopping event this Friday. A link of all the Pittsburgh area malls that are shut down can be found here. The website blackfriday.com has a search bar, so shoppers can learn more about operating hours during Black Friday. 

The students at NAI are making their shopping decisions about what to do about Black Friday shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. A tenth grader, Mia Fleming says, “I am not going Black Friday shopping because I want to make sure that I am doing everything I can to help with Coronavirus.” “I’m online shopping because I’m not really allowed out of the house, except for a few things,” according to an anonymous student at NAI. There are however some students with the intention of participating in Black Friday shopping. “I have a tradition to go, and I would be depressed if I didn’t,” says tenth grade student Julia Harris.

The CDC believes that Black Friday shoppers are at risk and that it is dangerous to shop on that holiday. However, the discounts and the tradition of going still float in the air. What will you do this Black Friday?