The sight of U.S. customs seeping into Mexican culture is nothing new. After all, halloween has been challenging the Day of the Dead holiday for several decades.
Now Mexican retailers have decided to jump on the Black Friday bandwagon and are planning a massive promotional sales campaign over U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.
Thanksgiving (known as Dia de Accion de Gracias in Mexico) is not a south-of-the-border holiday and few people here are aware of its history or significance.
However, the success U.S. retailers enjoy over Thanksgiving weekend has prompted Jalisco’s Industrial Chamber to join in a nationwide program that has designated Friday, November 18 through Sunday, November 20 as “El Gran Fin,” in a bid to kickoff the Christmas shopping season.
Stores of all sizes will post discounts over the three days and banks and department stores will offer interest-free credit card payments and other enticements.
The federal government has promised to pay its employees their annual Christmas bonuses (aguinaldos) in advance so they can take advantage of the discounts.
Jalisco Industrial Chamber coordinator Manuel Herrera said some of the offers would be “unprecedented” and that the program would help reactivate the economy and move inventory.