Change in Shopping Trends

Black Friday sales and bustling shopping centers have notoriously gone hand-in-hand as consumers seek out the best deals of the season for christmas gifts.  In recent years, the American tradition of shopping department stores has been on the decline as online shopping presents an increasingly convenient and less expensive way to shop, particularly on black friday.  This article is a first person narrative cataloging the experience of department store shopping from the view of a young child, highlighting all of the characteristics that make shopping on black friday somewhat of an American tradition.  (Cultural) Hegemony in this context can be understood as something introduced into society which blends with preexisting circumstances and eventually grows to dominate over what was previously accepted as normal.  At one point in time, in-store shopping had clear cultural hegemony during holiday sales such as black friday, but in recent years online shopping has been the first choice of consumers to purchase items as gifts and for themselves.  The author states that what is left of shopping department store sales is nostalgia for those who still value the experience of getting a "Calvin Klein sport jacket for the price of a bag of organic potatoes."  This article emphasizes the change in cultural hegemony in America as online shopping becomes consumers' method of choice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/fashion/why-department-stores-are-vital-first-person.html?adxnnl=1&src=recg&adxnnlx=1354057568-biyAIfPyA2+0/Ixp7zf+aA&_r=0