05.20 Police have been called to four supermarkets in London amid fears of crowd surges as people hunted for bargains.
Calls were made by both Tesco staff and queuing shoppers as people gathered at the Glover Drive store in Edmonton. Officers also attended Tesco stores in Willesden and Surrey Quays and an Asda in Edgware at around midnight.
In one Tesco store in Glasgow, shoppers could be seen physically pushing each other out of the way and shouting at one another as they frantically tried to grab flat-screen TVs.
05.15 The #BlackoutBlackFriday hashtag is gathering some steam. Activists are calling for a nationwide day of activism today and a boycott of retailers in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown and other black victims of gun violence. here is some new video from Walmart Ferguson, perhaps the quietest branch in the entire US last night.
04.12 For our American viewers, here are the biggest discounts:
JCPenney 65.44%
Macy's 53.52%
Rite Aid 53.34%
Meijer 50.85%
Sears 50.19%
Walgreens 46.74%
03.45 Protests spurred by the grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson are set to continue with a national day of action planned for Black Friday, the biggest consumer holiday of the year. Activists are organising a national boycott of retail venues and protests against police brutality.
The actions coincide with a wave of protests by Wal-Mart workers at more than 1,600 stores across the country who are demanding a $15-an-hour wage and the right to form a union. This year marks the third time in a row Wal-Mart workers have gone on strike on Black Friday. Organisers say it will be their biggest action to date.
02.35 Just got an email about Lastminute.com deals, including £5 hotel rooms. I'm sure there must be a catch!
02.30 And Macy's, New York, is just starting to heat up:
Thousands of shoppers at get a jump on #BlackFriday at @Macy's in Herald Square @abc7ny at 11pm #NYC
A photo posted by Darla Miles (@darlamiles7) on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:45pm PST
01.10 And more mayhem:
Police had to be called after scraps broke out between customers over cut-price coffee machines.
00.42 Oh dear, fighting has broken out outside one Tesco store in Scotland:
00.40 Retailers are jostling to offer the steepest discounts as they compete for a share of the estimated £1.7bn that shoppers are expected to spend on Black Friday and the rest of this weekend, writes the Telegraph's Lauren Davidson.
Asda, which claims to have taken Black Friday mainstream in the UK last year with its in-store flash sales, expects this year’s shopping frenzy to be three times larger than in 2013, when more than half of its stock sold out in the first two hours and customers bought a month’s worth of televisions in one hour.
The supermarket, which is owned by the US company Walmart, is offering discounts on 700,000 products in 441 stores from 8am on Friday, including the Seiki 4K 39-inch television at the 25pc reduced price of £299, which it says is “the lowest price anywhere in the world”.
00.24 Millions of Americans are expected to head to the stores for gift shopping tonight in what's quickly becoming a new tradition on a day once dedicated solely to family and feasting.
Just a few years ago when a few stores started opened late on the holiday, the move was met with resistance from workers and shoppers who believed the day should be sacred.
Thanksgiving - in bygone times a holiday meant to give thanks for the harvest - is celebrated with late-afternoon roast turkey meals.
But last year, more than dozen major retailers opened at some point on Thanksgiving evening. And this year, at least half of them - including Target, Macy's, Staples and J.C. Penney - are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday.
00.00 As promised, here are some of the best Black Friday deals, which have just been released:
AO.com
- LG 47LB570V 47" Smart Full HD LED Freeview HD TV Metallic - Was £699. Now £399 + free wifi dongle. Saving £300 (available from 12.30am)
Beko ASN541X Freestanding American Fridge Freezer - Stainless Steel. Was £799. Now. £499. Saving £300.
Asda:
- 4K LED (aka ultra high definition or UHD) TVs will be on offer for the lowest price anywhere in the world, at just £299
- 40” Polaroid LED TV available at £139, down from £219 saving customers £80
- Lowest priced Google accredited tablet for just £29
- Beats by Dre Solo Monochromatic - Black, Red, White RRP - £139.99. Now £79. Saving £61
John Lewis:
- Delonghi Prima Donna S Bean-to-Cup coffee machine £1,195, Half price at £595
- Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Bridge Camera - was £299, now £199, saving £100.
- HP Envy TouchSmart 15-j144na Laptop - was £899.95, now £699.95 (save £200)
A man grabs 2 Polaroid 32" LED TV at 99 Black Friday sale at Asda, Wembley, London
23.45 Despite the frenzy, some shoppers in the US are increasingly turned off by the day. There are currently 71 petitions on Change.org calling for retailers and consumers to change their approach to Black Friday.
The "Say No To Shopping on Thanksgiving" Facebook page has nearly 65,000 likes, while "Boycott Black Thursday" has more than 114,000. The majority of the petitions on Change.org that call for retailers to be closed on Thanksgiving specifically call out Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
23.30 Oh wow. A queue is already forming outside GAME in Hull:
23.20 Let's not lose our heads though. Shoppers have been warned to be on guard against online scams and counterfeit goods. Security experts predict that more than £700,000 of card fraud will occur on Black Friday and Cyber-Monday, the busiest high street and internet shopping days of the year.
22.57 Stateside, record online sales of $1.35 billion are expected today - an increase of 27 percent over last year. Tomorrow (Black Friday) meanwhile could be the fastest growing online sales day at $2.48 billion, a rise of 15 percent.
22.45 Answering more of your questions on Black Friday is Telegraph writer Harry Wallop, including why is it called Black Friday?
Nobody can agree on this. The most plausible explanation is that when the event first came about, in the 1950s, on the east coast of America, it caused traffic chaos. The Philadelphia Police Department christened it Black Friday because shoppers hit the stores at the same time as spectators travelled to the annual Army vs Navy American football match, creating huge crowds. Retailers would have much preferred it be called "Big Friday", but the name stuck.
The other explanation is that this is the day when retailers, traditionally, finally start to make a profit during the year – moving from red to black. This sounds a little too neat. But it is true that many retailers only make a profit thanks to their Chirstmas trading period.
22.25 Question: Isn't Black Friday an American thing, why is everyone in the UK talking about it?
Well, it has suddenly become a big deal in the UK. Last year a fight broke out over a discount telly in Asda, Bristol. Amazon UK, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Argos, PC World are all promising big discounts this year, as well as even quite sober firms such as John Lewis and Lakeland, saying they will join in. It is widely predicted to be the busiest online shopping day of the year.
22.15 HOW SOON CAN I GET MY DEALS? I hear you all ask. Well, we have the answer:
- John Lewis is opening 8am tomorrow - earlier than usual - and the flagship Oxford Street store will stay open for business until 10pm.
- GAME stores will open at 11:59pm on tonight. Early deals available at http://ift.tt/1xNmzG3.
- Sainsbury's kicks off its deals early off Friday morning in 485 stores
- PC World will offer Black Friday deals online and in store "until stock is gone" which will be opening at 8am.
- Argos is kicking off its Black Friday event midnight on Thursday, promising discounts on toys, tech and TVs
22. 07 At Old Navy shops in Virgina and New Mexico, US, shoppers are already queueing for the best deals. probably a pretty miserable ways to spend Thanksgiving.
22.05 At midnight we will bring you the best deals in the UK and beyond, so check back in with us then. But here are some of the deals we already know:
22.03 Black Friday weekend is the year´s biggest promotional event for most major US retailers, and yet there are prominent holdouts ignoring it — or at least being discreet about their specials. Tiffany & Co., Dollar Tree Inc. and T.J Maxx are among the chains that aren´t promoting Black Friday on their websites. That´s a sharp contrast with the supersized fonts advertising sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Macy´s Inc.
22.02 By the looks of things, consumers have entered a frenzy a day early this year. This from Telegraph writer Harry Wallop:
22:00: And we're off. Welcome to the Black Friday live blog. We'll aim to keep you abreast of the biggest and best deals as they flood in.
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1FyWe4q
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