Yesterday, we talked about The Short Week Trap—how a holiday Monday can stall our sales momentum and why three-day weekends sometimes feel a bit “off” when you thrive on a steady hustle rhythm.
But today is Friday, the laptop is almost shut, and it’s time to shift gears!
We are officially turning up the heat to celebrate the ultimate three-day kickoff to the unofficial beginning of summer. The beaches are about to be absolutely loaded, the backyard grills are getting fired up, and businesses across the country are prepping for massive holiday traffic.
To get you in the right headspace for the long weekend, I’ve put together a fast-paced, high-value Friday Top 10 list. We’re counting down from 10 to 1 with a mix of fascinating historical Memorial Day trivia and explosive merchant services facts that drive the commerce of this very weekend. Let’s dive in!
From the Home office in Waterloo, New York, Here are the
Top 10 Memorial Day Myths, Merchant Metrics !
10. The “Decoration Day” Origins
Before it was called Memorial Day, it was known as “Decoration Day.” It originated after the Civil War in 1868 as a specific time for citizens to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with spring flowers. It wasn’t officially declared a federal holiday named Memorial Day by law until 1971.
9. The Multi-Billion Dollar Hot Dog Hustle
Americans are expected to consume roughly 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. For grocery, retail, and food truck merchants, this weekend marks the start of peak swipe season for outdoor cooking staples. If you aren’t targeting seasonal food and beverage merchants like snow cone, crawfish, ice-cream trucks/stands,firework stands, farmers markets you are leaving money on the table.
8. Waterloo Holds the Official Crown
While dozens of towns claim to have given birth to the holiday, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an official presidential proclamation in 1966 declaring Waterloo, New York, as the definitive birthplace of Memorial Day.
7. The Great Charcoal Spike
Memorial Day is the #1 grilling weekend of the entire year, narrowly beating out the 4th of July and Labor Day. Hardware stores, independent grocers, and supermarkets see a massive surge in average ticket sizes this week. It’s a perfect reminder to sell merchants on robust, cloud-based POS systems that manage fast-moving inventory without breaking a sweat.
6. The National Moment of Remembrance
It’s not just a day off; there is a unified moment of reflection. In 2000, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act. Every American is asked to pause for exactly one minute at 3:00 PM local time on Monday to honor those who died in service to the nation.
5. The Mobile Point-of-Sale Explosion
Because beaches, boardwalks, and outdoor festivals are completely packed this weekend, mobile processing volume skyrockets by over 35% compared to an average May weekend. Pop-up vendors and beachside bars depend entirely on cellular/Wi-Fi wireless terminals. If you are selling mobility and offline-processing capabilities, this is your prime case-study weekend.
4. Flag Protocol is Strictly Specific
On Memorial Day, the American flag is supposed to be flown at half-staff only until exactly noon, and then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The morning honors the fallen, while the afternoon represents the endurance of the nation.
3. Buc-ee’s Rules the Roads (and Changes the Payment Game)
With tens of millions of drivers hitting the highways for holiday road trips, mega travel centers like Buc-ee’s experience astronomical volume. Their massive locations feature up to 120 fuel pumps pumping gas simultaneously.
Fun Fact: Talk about handling transaction traffic! Buc-ee’s actually shook up the payment industry by enforcing a strict policy: if you are paying for fuel with a credit or debit card, you must pay at the pump. They completely eliminated paying for gas with plastic inside the store to stop people from abandoning their cars at the pumps to go buy Beaver Nuggets. It’s a masterclass in using payment routing to optimize physical foot traffic and pump turnover during a slammed holiday weekend!
2. The Red Poppy Tradition
The tradition of wearing red poppies was inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields.” In 1915, Moina Michael began a campaign to make the poppy a national symbol of remembrance, a tradition that still thrives today through organizations like the VFW.
And the # 1 Top 10 Memorial Day Myths, Merchant Metrics & Turning Up the Summer Heat is ….
1. The Trillion-Dollar Summer Kickoff
Memorial Day weekend officially unlocks consumer “summer spending mode.” Historically, the travel, hospitality, and entertainment sectors see credit card transactions surge past the trillion-dollar mark globally over the broader summer months. This weekend is proof that businesses need reliable, high-speed, and secure payment processing. As merchant sales professionals, we aren’t just selling merchant accounts—we are providing the infrastructure that powers the American summer.
Now shut the laptop, step away from the CRM, fire up the grill, and have an incredible, safe Memorial Day weekend. We’ll deal with Tuesday’s short-week trap when it gets here.
Here’s to a great summer season!
Have a great weekend,
David
