Walmart Stretches Black Friday And Cyber Monday To 14 Days; Actual Friday Asks What It Did Wrong

BENTONVILLE, Ark.—Walmart announced Monday that its Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals will run for 14 days this year across three separate events, leaving the original Friday, a single 24-hour period that once had the whole thing to itself, to ask colleagues whether it had been doing something wrong all these years.

According to Retail Dive, early deals begin Nov. 12 and run through Nov. 15. Black Friday deals follow from Nov. 23 to Nov. 29, and Cyber Monday deals run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. That is 14 days in total, up from 10 last year. Walmart+ members get early access, and the company says shoppers will find thousands of gifts under $20. It did not name specific products, which retail analysts described as the most suspenseful part.

Friday, reached at its home between Thursday and Saturday, said it learned the news the same way everyone else did. "I used to be the day," said Friday, a fictional day of the week. "People slept in tents for me. Now I am one of seven Black Fridays, and the other six are not even Fridays. One of them is a Monday. I have met him. He is very nice. That is the worst part."

Under the new calendar, a Black Friday deal can now be purchased on a Wednesday, a Cyber Monday deal can be purchased on a Tuesday, and an early Black Friday deal can be purchased so early that it is technically mid November, a period historians previously classified as "the leftover Halloween candy era."

"I used to be the day. Now I am one of seven Black Fridays, and the other six are not even Fridays."

How Long Black Friday Has Lasted, By Era

1985, one Friday, a VCR	1 days
2011, Thursday night counts now	2 days
2019, "Black Friday Week"	7 days
2025, Walmart, 10 days	10 days
2026, Walmart, 14 days	14 days
2031, projected, all of November	30 days

Source: The Daily SKU Calendar Desk; one wall calendar, many sticky notes, a growing sense of dread

Shoppers said they appreciated the extra time, in the way one appreciates a meeting that has been extended. "I have to pace myself now," said Donna Krebbs, 52, a fictional shopper in Rogers, Ark., who said she has already built a spreadsheet. "On the first wave I buy the TV. On the second wave I buy the same TV in case it got cheaper. On the third wave I return the first TV. My husband calls it a strategy. I call it November."

A survey of 900 fictional shoppers by The Daily SKU found that 41% could no longer say which day Black Friday is, 27% believed it was "a vibe that lasts about two weeks," and 9% said they had been shopping Black Friday deals since August without realizing it. Only 6% said it was the Friday after Thanksgiving, and that group was described by researchers as "old fashioned, and correct."

Cyber Monday, which has long lived in Black Friday's shadow, now runs for three days on its own, and was said to be adjusting well. "For years I was the little brother," said Cyber Monday, also fictional. "Now I am a long weekend. I have a lanyard."

Rival retailers were expected to respond by extending their own events, which industry observers warned could start an arms race that ends only when Black Friday merges with Prime Day and becomes a season, like Lent, but with doorbusters.

Back on the calendar, the original Friday said it would keep showing up regardless. "Somebody still has to be the day after Thanksgiving," it said. "Somebody has to eat the leftover pie at 10 a.m. I am still good at that. Nobody can make that a three-wave event."

Walmart did not respond to a request for comment, as it was already on day two of preparing to announce day one.