On Black Friday 2008, local businesses throughout the Town of Friday Harbor and, indeed, the entire San Juan Island, will be adorned in holiday decorations, shelves and racks will be overflowing, awaiting your visit as you start your gift and holiday shopping.

Many shops will remain open until 8 p.m. that day. Start making your list. Get out your comfortable shoes. Fill up your wallet, find your car keys and be prepared to “shop ‘til you drop” on Black Friday throughout the island.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is the traditional beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees take the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers.

Although this particular Friday, being the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term “Black Friday” has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. Merchants and the media have used it to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Experience Black Friday on San Juan Island. Remember, “We’re not just a business … and you’re not just a customer. We’re neighbors.” Shop local!

Debbie Pigman, executive director

San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce