Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza, has been around since 1966. It stood alone until 2005, when Cyber Monday got added to the holiday shopping lexicon. And now this year, Small Business Saturday is added to the calendar.

But what about the other four days of the week? Don't they count in the big retail picture? Yes, they do, for businesses large and small, and for consumers. Each one of those days actually has a specific role to play in the retail meaning of Christmas—buying stuff. Here, then, is the Portfolio.com take on the entire week following Thanksgiving:

Black Friday

The official start of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday got its start in Philadelphia when police tagged the day as "black" because of all the hassles they faced with crowds on the streets and sidewalks. Later, as the concept spread across the country, Black Friday developed a new meaning—it was the day retailers saw their sales figures move into the profitable margin, or into the black. For customers, the day is known for “doorbuster” deals and special discounts. In better economic times, Black Friday is often the only day in the season that offered any sort of discounts. But in this economy, customers win out with almost every retailer, large and small, offering at least a perfunctory discount, and most big-box retailers offering 20 to 30 percent off a variety of products. Even Apple, which never extends a discount, offered five percent off last year on selected accessories. Either way, 87 percent of shoppers say they won't bite unless they're extended a savings of 20 percent or more, according to Time magazine.

Small Business Saturday

This is the new brainchild of American Express, which has long targeted small businesses with special services and products. AmEx already had a brand of credit cards targeted to this audience, Open, and it sponsors a website dedicated to small business concerns, OpenForum. Now, it's got an entire day—the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s the financial company’s push to help drive traffic, and hopefully sales, to smaller merchants. Plus, it's a way for consumers to shop and make a financial impact in their neighborhoods. Retail analysts don't believe that Small Business Saturday will have a significant impact on overall sales, saying that in order to match the revenue-generating power of a large retailer, thousands of smaller merchants have to have their best sales day in history to move the needle from the expected three percent rise in retail sales to even 3.5 percent. On average, people spend less than $100 on a purchase with a smaller vendor while large chain stores sell an average of $200 per transaction. Last year, the average American spent $811 on the holidays.

Survival Sunday

At this point if you're a retailer, your sales staff has been up and working for at least 12-14 hours. Your store likely has been open 48 hours if you’re a big retailer, or 24 hours if you’re smaller. Either way, it’s Sunday, which doesn’t mean you necessarily get to close at 6. Make sure that your best staff is well rested because those who avoided the malls on the previous two days are sure to come sniffing out bargains. But, analysts predict since many retailers having been open since Thanksgiving Day, and with the addition of Small Business Saturday being another designated shopping day, Americans may plain be shopped out for a bit. In order to draw customers in, have informed sales staff call your best clients and offer them a complimentary personal shopper consultation that can take care of most, if not all, of their shopping needs in one day away from the commotion that is the holiday season. After closing, consider having dinner delivered for the staff and having an impromptu early "thank you" celebration to reward the hard-working backbone of your business and get them ready for the month to come.

Cyber Monday

If you’re shopping online, the first Monday after Thanksgiving has been the best time to find a deal since 2005, when online shopping first became a major part of the shopping season. It's become a steadily more watched indicator of holiday spending and 2010 is no exception, with 28 percent of consumers expected to go online this time, an increase of 10 percent over 2009. This year also marks the first time that the majority of consumers will shop from home. While 37 percent of shoppers plan to make their purchases online this Monday, 87 percent of them said they’ll do it from the comforts of their own homes rather than at the office, thanks to improved Internet speeds and accessibility, finds a new survey from Los Angeles-based online retailer and comparison site PriceGrabber.

Deal (and Debut) Tuesday

Most retailers set their markdowns to go into effect at 12:01am on Tuesdays. So for those looking for new sale styles, the mall beckons. Now, this is hardly a new phenomenon. It typically happens once a month, although the week of choice (whether it be the first Tuesday of the month, or the third) is up to the retailer. Since the retail delivery cycle has largely changed over the past two years due to the economy, vendors are sending goods on a monthly basis rather than on a quarterly or seasonal basis. That means that every month stores have excess inventory that needs to move and if it's off the floor, it's harder to sell. So rather than fill their stock rooms, retailers take a first markdown (starting with 10 percent and going as deep as 30 percent) to try to ease that merchandise into good homes. During the holiday, retailers may use this markdown strategy to push items that are early non-performers. Tuesday is also the day that movies come out on DVD and new music is released.

Can-Do Wednesday

Typically the slowest day of the week, even during the holidays, shop employees often dread “hump day.” It’s not close enough for the weekend so fashionistas aren’t looking for the perfect wow outfit or matching accessories for coming holiday parties, which means that most business walking in through the door is a return, an exchange, or a glimmer of hope in the form of a tourist. Use downtime to retrain staff on key customer service behaviors, such as engagement, active listening, and suggestive selling. If the store's empty, role-play behavior to let the lessons sink in. If a customer should walk in, have a dispersement strategy so he or she doesn't feel overwhelmed by sales associates and managers watching every move like hungry vultures. Let your best associate approach, and engage, only step in if there's a need to close the sale. And remember retail's holiday motto: "who, who, and you?" which translates to "who's on your list, who else are you shopping for, and what do you need to treat yourself?"

Target Thursday

By now it feels like forever and a day since Thanksgiving Day, but remember that the retail cycle has only just begun. And for those who feel safe traveling to the malls today to avoid the weekend crowd, see Can-Do Wednesday above, and keep in mind that Thursday's not for the faint at heart. In fact, this is the day the hard-core shoppers come out because they can still peruse pre-weekend deals (think preview day) without having to deal with the noise that is the family-going-shopping-as-the-weekend-activity that dins in the background Friday through Sunday. For those who can stop by the store while the rest of the world is at work, this is a perfect time to touch and feel what's out there. Customer service should still be good as most sales associates are eager to please this early in the season. Plus they haven't tired of the holiday music that's blaring on a loop from the store's loudspeakers. However, if this is the third Thursday in the cycle, better luck in January!

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Romy Ribitzky is an associate editor at Portfolio.com.