Just as the treacly Christmas décor now appears well before Halloween, Black Friday — that holy day of rampant consumerism — is happening early this year. Personally, I’d rather eat old socks than face those maddening pre-dawn hordes. Even industry folk are having second thoughts: Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, told the Houston Chronicle, “I just don’t know whether this is the kind of strategy that makes for a good holiday season.” Hear, hear.
