Happy Green Friday!

I am sick of reading about Black Friday -- it sounds so ghoulish. The reason for this name is that retailers lose money until the day after Thanksgiving at which point so many people buy holiday gifts that the retailers tip into profitable territory -- going from operating "in the red" to "in the black."

Why not color profit as green instead of black? After all, the money in my wallet isn't black, it's green. So I'm going to call it Green Friday instead. This sounds much more festive and alive to me.

And there's good news on this front. Surveys say that this years' shopping season looks to be better than last years:

• The National Retail Federation projects holiday sales will increase 5% from 2005, bringing spending to $457.4 billion;
• Citigroup forecasts an "average" same-store sales growth of 3% for November through January;
• Deloitte & Touche LLP is forecasting a 7% increase in 2006 holiday spending compared with 2005; and
• A Gallup Poll of 1,004 people indicated consumers will spend an average of $826, more than any of its polls since 2000.

So join in the national celebration of Green Friday. Our nation's retailers are depending on you.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, and a Professor of Management at Babson College.