El Buen Fin

El Buen Fin (Literally the "The Good End" but implying "The Good Weekend") is an annual nationwide shopping event in Mexico, in existence since 2011 and taking place on November in the weekend prior to the Monday in which the Mexican Revolution holiday is pushed from its original date of November the 20th, as a result of the measure taken by the government of pushing certain holidays to the Monday of their week in order to avoid the workers and students to make a ”larger” weekend (for example, not attending in a Friday after a Thursday holiday, thus making a 4-day weekend). On this weekend, major retailers extend their store hours^[1] and offer special promotions, including extended credit terms and price promotions.

The purpose of this weekend is to revive the economy by encouraging consumption^[2] and improve the quality of life of all Mexican families by implementing promotions and discounts in the prices of various products. It was inspired by the American observance, Black Friday and emerged as an initiative of Council of Business Coordination,^[3] in association with the federal government and private sector organizations.

History

Mexican President Felipe Calderón stated his belief that this move will cushion Mexican economy from the threats of European and US economic difficulties.^[4]

The event is organized by

• the Bancos de México's Association
• Mexican Internet Association
• National Association of Supermarkets and Departmental Stores (ANTAD)
• Council of Business Coordinator
• Bosses Confederation of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX)
• Confederation of National Chambers of Trade, Services and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur)
• Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United States of Mexico (CONCAMIN), and
• Iniciativa México, in coordination with the Mexico's federal government.

Since 2011, retailers have run campaigns marketing El Buen Fin to be the best time of the year to buy goods.^[5] Critics say that Mexico’s Black Friday deals are not helpful for Mexican consumers causing them to go into unnecessary debt as most of the offers are monthly payment deals, package deals (i.e. buy 2, get 1 free) or store credit deals (get $300 for every $1000 spent, for example) and not real discounts. Others, such as furniture store chain, Famsa, see it as an opportunity to attract North American buyers, especially in the border cities such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez or Reynosa, along with South Texas and Rio Grande Valley consumers to stores in its flagship Monterrey market, as El Buen Fin is scheduled to be about 1 or 2 weeks before the US Black Friday.

Mexican civil society consumer rights watchdog El Poder del Consumidor has said that this economic activity has pushed more Mexicans to credit card debts.^[6]

Name

In Spanish El Buen Fin directly translates as "The Good End", however, this is a short form of El Buen Fin de Semana, which translates as "The Good Weekend".

In Mexico, the expression for "the weekend" is shortened to just "the end" in many informal situations.

References

External links

• El Poder del Consumidor membership to the International Consumer Organizations
• El Buen Fin 2014 Official site.