Is Black Friday a thing in France?
Very much so, which surprises Americans who know that France does not celebrate Thanksgiving. In the United States, Black Friday is the day after a national holiday, and many people have it off. In France it is an ordinary working Friday at the end of November, with nothing before it. The French simply took the date and the discounts.
If the Thursday is a mystery to your French friends, send them do French people celebrate Thanksgiving.
When did Black Friday come to France?
In the early 2010s, brought by American companies, Apple and Amazon first among them. French retailers followed within a few years. By 2024, Slate France could describe it as a phenomenon that had grown over about fifteen years.
The French kept the English name. Vendredi noir, the literal translation, sounds like a disaster in French rather than a sale, and nobody uses it. Many retailers have since stretched the day into a Black Week, and online the following Monday is Cyber Monday, as here.
Black Friday is not les soldes
This is the part Americans do not expect. In France, the word soldes is regulated. Official sales happen twice a year, in winter and in summer, on dates set by the state, for four weeks each. Only during les soldes may a shop sell its stock at a loss.
Black Friday falls outside those dates, so legally it is a promotion. Since 28 May 2022, a French retailer announcing a price cut must calculate it from the lowest price it charged in the previous 30 days, which is meant to stop prices being raised in October to be “cut” in November.
This or that
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Take the quizWhat do the French buy on Black Friday?
Clothes first. In BCG’s 2025 survey of French consumers, half planned to buy clothing, 34 percent electronics and 32 percent beauty products. Most of it is bought online.
And Christmas presents, early. In an OpinionWay survey for Bonial in 2024, 79 percent of French Black Friday shoppers said they used it to buy Christmas gifts. What the French then give is in French Christmas gifts.
Not everyone in France is in
Black Friday has more organised opponents in France than in the United States. In 2017 the furniture brand Camif closed its website for the day, and did it again in the years that followed. The Green Friday movement, begun the same year by Envie, a network that repairs and resells appliances, became a collective of brands that refuse the discounts or give part of the day’s takings away.
In 2019 it reached the National Assembly: a committee adopted an amendment by the former environment minister Delphine Batho to ban Black Friday advertising. It did not make it into law, but it says something about the French view of a shopping day with an American name.
Black Friday, two countries
| France | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| The day before | An ordinary Thursday | Thanksgiving |
| The day itself | A working day | Many people have it off |
| Where | Mostly online, over a week | In stores and online |
| The rules | A promotion, priced against the last 30 days | Any discount the store likes |
| The real sales | January and summer, les soldes | All year |
Questions, answered
Is Black Friday celebrated in France?
Yes. French retailers have run Black Friday promotions since the early 2010s, even though France does not celebrate Thanksgiving. In 2025, 72 percent of French consumers planned to take part (BCG).
When is Black Friday in France in 2026?
Friday 27 November 2026, the same day as in the United States. Cyber Monday is 30 November.
Is Black Friday the same as les soldes?
No. Les soldes are two official sale periods a year, set by the state. Black Friday is a promotion, and the discount must be calculated from the lowest price of the previous 30 days.
What do the French buy on Black Friday?
Mostly clothing, then electronics and beauty products, largely online, and many buy Christmas presents early.
Why do some French brands boycott Black Friday?
Over-consumption and misleading discounts. Camif first closed its website on Black Friday in 2017, and the Green Friday collective of brands refuses the discounts.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
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