We are now well into December, which means Black Friday is behind us — including all the spin-off attempts by retailers to attract attention, such as Black November and Cyber Monday for that matter. It’s all about the tinsel and Mariah Carey playlists as we wind down the year.

I made a point of being at a large upmarket local mall on the Saturday morning of Black Friday weekend. I also spoke to the cashiers at every store I visited. My observation of the mall and the consensus from cashiers showed that Black Friday seemed quieter than in 2023. I wrote about Black Friday retailer strategies in this column last week, while wondering whether my observations could be explained by a broader consumer spending issue, or perhaps an online vs in-store sales issue...

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