'Black Friday': Police called to supermarket crowds - Thanks, America

[muriel_volestrangler]

I'm blaming this on extended marketing by American multinational companies, and British idiots who ape them. "Black Friday" has no meaning here. It's just another Friday, after just another Thursday, and before just another Saturday.

Police have been called to supermarkets across the UK amid crowd surges as people hunt for "Black Friday" offers.

Greater Manchester Police appealed for calm after attending seven Tesco shops, at which three men were arrested and a woman was hit by a falling television.

The force said the issues were "totally predictable" and it was "disappointed" by shop security. Tesco said only a "small number" of stores were affected.
...

About 200 shoppers refused to leave a store in Middleton "despite being told stock had all gone"
Fights broke out between shoppers in Stretford, and a woman suffered "minor injuries" after being hit by a falling television. The store was closed at 00:36 GMT
A man was arrested in Salford after he threatened to "smash a staff member's face in"
In Wigan, officers were called to reports of "several hundred people trying to enter the store". Police added: "Two men were ejected before control was regained"
There were reports of fighting in a store in Hattersley, where a man was arrested for a public order offence
A man was arrested for assault at a store in Green End

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30241459

[T_i_B]

1. Couldn't agree more

America, please take Black Friday back.

Do that and we might be able to forgive you for the current "pulled pork" fad and the endless attempts to move an NFL franchise to London.

[non sociopath skin]

2. Amazon to blame, I reckon.

They brought the concept to the UK, so of course all the others wanted their snouts in the trough.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Skin reminds me that this is the kind of shite she emigrated from the States to avoid ...

The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Yeah, the Amazon spam about Black Friday has got deeper each year

They do seem to lead it.

[T_i_B]

4. Ah Amazon

As somebody whom loves 2nd hand book and record stores, I feel a little bit dirty every time I visit that website.

[LeftishBrit]

5. I don't think that until this year...

I had ever heard of 'Black Friday', except in connection with the 1929 Wall Street crash.

It is not needed in the UK, especially as we don't do Thanksgiving anyway.

[fedsron2us]

6. Concept makes no sense in the Uk which has no Thanksgiving holiday

So it is is just another attempt by the UK's struggling retailers like Tescos to offload the mounds of unsold stock that is weighing down their shelves