It’s Not Just “Small-Business Saturday.” Now It’s “Civilized Saturday” Too.

Black Friday is not all it’s cracked up to be, according to new number crunching by WalletHub. There are good deals, of course: you can expect an additional discount on books, movies, music, video games, and toys of between 22–28%. But almost 20% of products for sale will actually be more expensive on Black Friday, including bikes, Wiis, cameras, cookware & kitchenware generally, including refrigerators.

They’re presumably working on the assumption that, once you’re in the store, you’ll go into an adrenaline-fueled haze and just grab whatever you see. Good thing fridges are so heavy, huh?

Here, look, chart:

Source: WalletHub

Of course, you could also skip the mosh pit altogether and opt instead for Civilized Saturday, a new trend — at least in jolly old England.

So far, some 100 bookshops have signed up to the initiative on 28 November, the day after Black Friday on 27 November. … what booksellers offer is an informed, civilised environment for people to make purchases. It may be for people who have gone through Black Friday and need some R&R afterwards, or for those who shun it for a more civilised alternative.” … “We’re going to invite people in the shop to take a seat in our specially delivered green velvet armchair, and get them to explain to us what they’re looking for and how they’re feeling,” said James. “Then we’ll go about plucking titles off the shelf to bring back for them to look at in the chair. They’ll also be given tea and cakes, and a complimentary hand massage. It’s the most civilised thing ever to happen in a shop — absolutely the antidote to Black Friday.”

Which is not to say that the Brits don’t have a self-aware sense of humor about what they’re doing.

Along with the offer of prosecco at Corfield-Walters’s shop, customers will have the chance to take part in a competition to see who can walk the furthest down the high street with a book on their head to ensure correct posture.

Yeah, if you gave me tea, cakes, and a hand massage, I would 100% buy all of your books, thank you. Especially after the tumult of family member and the further chaos of shopping for said family members, don’t we all need a little TLC?

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