Department stores once owned the holidays, staging celebrations that seemed above the sales hustle while simultaneously making the season lucrative for themselves.
These days the holidays own them.
Department stores aren’t alone in their dependence on the fourth quarter; the period is critical for many, if not most, retailers. And they remain popular on Black Friday: The National Retail Federation this year found that half of the 189.6 million who shopped during that five day shopping weekend visited a department store.
