LONDON -- The biggest shopping day of the year is rapidly approaching, but for most of us, it's a shopping day that’s best avoided. A spending frenzy of £2 billion is anticipated this Friday in the UK, with over 15 million bargain hunters expected to hit high streets.
Booksellers across the UK are taking a stand against the chaos of Black Friday -- and the bad behaviour that has now become part and parcel of the retail day -- and have concocted an appealing alternative: Civilised Saturday.
Instead of scrambling over shoppers for the best deals and dodging punch-ups in the aisles, booksellers are offering a much calmer alternative; one that involves book reading, cakes, thoughtful conversation, not to mention copious amounts of prosecco.
Needed a reason to get involved in #civilisedsaturday? We've got 8 for you - & they're all spot on! @booksaremybag pic.twitter.com/HtgL1VmLfI
— QuercusBooks (@QuercusBooks) November 25, 2015
So far, around 100 bookshops across the UK have signed up for the initiative on Saturday, Nov. 28, which was launched by trade body The Booksellers Association as part of Books Are My Bag -- a campaign set up to celebrate high street and physical bookshops.
"It’s all about celebrating the pleasant and peaceful experience of shopping in a bookshop. It’s the calm after the storm after Black Friday, inviting shoppers to discover new books, and some unusual Christmas gift ideas, as they unwind and relax," said Alan Staton, Head of Marketing at The Booksellers Association, in a statement emailed to Mashable.
Bookseller Alistair Sims will be hosting a Civilised Saturday event in his bookshop, Books on the Hill in Clevedon, Somerset:
“We were aghast at what happened last year on Black Friday," he told Mashable.
"Small independent shops do not get much of a look in on Black Friday; it is the prerogative of big shopping malls and larger companies. We abhor the chaos of Black Friday, so it is an antidote to that. We like to keep it small and friendly -- so we are having cake and tea for our customers. It will be a nice calm day, where our customers will enjoy themselves, and perhaps find a good book to go away with and read at home with a beverage of their choice.”
Booksellers across the country are following suit in a bid to encourage people to support independent stores instead of high street giants:
#BlackFriday is, apparently, coming. Not round here it isn't. Join us on #CivilisedSaturday for free cucumber sandwiches & dainty pastries — West End Lane Books (@WELBooks) November 25, 2015
This Saturday join our search for Santa in West Dulwich, shop whilst sipping winter Pimms & eating homemade cake all for #CivilisedSaturday
— Dulwich Books (@DulwichBooks) November 26, 2015
We start our #CivilisedSaturday happenings at 10:30 with tea, cake & Jane Blank signing 'The Shadow of Nanteos' pic.twitter.com/A9fiYuYN8s — Emma (Mrs Book-ish) (@Bookishcrick) November 26, 2015
Forget #blackfriday enjoy #civilisedsaturday Christmas shopping at a gentle pace with treats… https://t.co/Bl9W4L3fwL
— Little mouse books (@Littlemousebook) November 10, 2015