No matter your creed, Black Friday is a holiday tradition that pervades nearly all households, and not simply because it speaks to the very American urge to buy, buy, buy. In some ways, the mother of all sales feels subversive to that consumerist system; customers cut deeply into retailer margins and leverage their dollar against companies that consistently charge more for less. Of course, many sales — Black Friday perhaps most of all — is an exercise in consumer psychology, but this year, and in this economy, motive is superfluous. A sale is a sale, and America needs relief.

The mood is decidedly not merry this holiday shopping season. Deloitte, in its annual holiday retail survey released in October, said it is tracking the lowest consumer sentiment since the poll began in 1997, with 77

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