Latin American countries jump on the Black Friday bandwagon
You’d think that Black Friday is a crazy tradition held only in North America. Wrong! The shopping spree phenomenon has spread to other parts of…
FILE- The shopping spree tradition that follows Thanksgiving Day is adopted in many countries in Latin America. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
You’d think that Black Friday is a crazy tradition held only in North America. Wrong! The shopping spree phenomenon has spread to other parts of the world, including Latin America.
Coined as early as the 1960s to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, Black Friday is observed primarily in the United States and Canada the day after Thanksgiving.
SEE ALSO: 13 of the best Black Friday deals
It’s that time of year where shopaholics go crazy trying to nab the best deals in their favorite stores.
For the past couple of years, the North American shopping tradition has been adopted by many countries in Europe and the Americas, becoming all the rage in South and Central American countries.
Without further ado, here are five Latin American countries that have ventured into the Black Friday or Viernes Negro mayhem ?oh, throw in Cyber Monday also.
Colombia
FILE – SAN ANDRES, COLOMBIA: Two women with shopping bags in San Andres, Colombia. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
In Colombia, many stores have sales for Black Friday, especially in Medellin. However, the big deals are generally found on the Internet.
“Cyber Monday is one of the most important moments for electronic commerce in the country,” stated Mauricio Chiappe, General Director de Cuponatic.com.co.
Panama
For Panama, Black Friday is a shopping spree that takes place the whole month of November. As the month wraps up, this year the country received over 40,000 visitors for the shopping event alone, according to the administrator of Panama’s Tourism Authority, Jesus Sierra.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is new to the game, embracing the Black Friday extravaganza for its second year in 2014. Many retailers in the Central American country intend to imitate the discounts seen in the U.S. during Black Friday.
A toy store has deals for Black Friday in Costa Rica. (Photo: blackfridaycr.com)
Spain
Amazon.co.uk is credited with introducing Black Friday to many European countries, including Spain.
SEE ALSO: 7 ways to keep your sanity over Thanksgiving
The shopping website now offers week-long deals in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Italy and Spain. In fact, Black Friday was the second-busiest day of the year in 2013 for Amazon in Spain as reported by TheStar.com.
Mexico
Mexicos version of Black Friday takes place as early as the second week of November. It’s known as “El Buen Fin” (The Good Weekend) and practices the same tradition as the U.S.
Brazil
CURITIBA, BRAZIL – OCTOBER 7, 2014: People shop at Riachuelo in Curitiba, Brazil. Riachuelo has 230 department stores in Brazil and employs 40,000 people.
The Star also reported that Black Friday has become popular in Brazil for several years now, according to Kenneth Rapoza, a contributor to Forbes and former writer for the Wall Street Journal specializing in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).
Its not crazy like in the U.S., but there are more stores participating every year. Its a cultural phenomenon in Brazil because Brazil in general, and especially the middle class and wealthy Brazilians, love to copy American culture, he said.
It’s no secret, everyone loves shopping and any excuse to go crazy in retail or online stores is a good excuse.
Happy Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping everyone, everywhere!
