I ran across this article by Tightwad Tod today and had to laugh. Here is it November 16 and he is writing about sales and deals that we frugal bloggers have been posting about for a couple of weeks. Maybe he should take up blog reading in his spare time.
.
"With analysts predicting aggressive holiday sales this season, many retailers have gotten a head start on Black Friday by dangling generous discounts well in advance of Nov. 27.
.
Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Toys "R" Us, Best Buy, CVS, Target, Staples, HH Gregg, Kohl's, Lowe's, and Ace Hardware are some of the big names hoping to cash in by enticing early birds with bargains prior to the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally one of the busiest and bargain-laden shopping days of the year.
.
You can scope out many of the deals — and rumors of deals — ahead of time at a variety of Web sites such as Black Friday Ads, The Black Friday, TGI Black Friday, Black Friday Info, Deal News, Deal Taker, and Black Friday FM.
.
The most efficient way to discover what's on sale at your favorite stores or online is to sign up for e-mail alerts. By doing so, you'll also be privy to special offers like free shipping, announcements of upcoming promotions, exclusive savings for store credit-card holders, deals of the day, and periodic markdowns like special 3-hour sales. One note of caution, however. Many of the doorbuster ads on retailer Web sites often lack model numbers for big-ticket items like computers and TV sets. That can hinder comparison shopping.
.
This year, Walmart ushered in Christmas on Halloween with Black Friday pricing on a variety of "secret" in-store specials. They've also cut prices weekly on thousands of items from bananas to board games throughout the holidays. More recently, the company announced additional price rollbacks of an additional 20 to 30 percent on 100 popular toys, which comes of the heels of the chain's season-long holiday promo of 100 toys at $10. Perhaps of even more note, the chain said on Wednesday that it will keep all of its stores open round-the-clock on Thanksgiving weekend and implement new crowd-control measures in the aftermath of last's years fatal trampling of an employee during a frenetic Black Friday sale. The chain has also devised another strategy to deter mayhem. Instead of lining up outside the doors for the 5 a.m. sales to commence, people will be dispersed in gathering areas throughout each store.
.
Over at Sears, the chain began offering "Black Friday Now" deals on Oct. 31, and they're slated to continue every Saturday from 7 a.m. until noon through Thanksgiving. Some of the early bargains included a Craftsman 302-piece mechanic's tool set at half off; a ProForma XP elliptical exerciser for $400 (regularly $700), and a 42-in. Zenith Plasma TV for $499, a $250 savings.
.
Kmart kicked off its "Better than Black Friday" campaign last week, which features 15 new doorbusters on Fridays. Some of the recent deals have included Protégé basketball shoes at $15 a pair, General Electric artificial Christmas trees at 25 to 33 percent off, Basic Editions jeans at $7, and a Little Letters Learning Laptop at half price.
.
Earlier this week, Target took aim at Walmart by taking pre-orders of some highly anticipated DVDs at $10, the same price point they sell for at the nation's largest retailer. The $10 price applies to pre-orders on Target.com of 10 select DVDs: "Star Trek XI," "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Angels & Demons," "Four Christmases," "G-Force," "My Sister's Keeper," "Santa Buddies," "Terminator Salvation," and "Julie & Julia." At the same time, Target implemented price cuts on hundreds of hot new toys from Fisher Price, Ni Hao Kai Lan, Barbie, LIV, Furreal, Star Wars, Ben 10, and Air Hogs. For guests hoping to get a head start on the gifting season, November deals include over 400 price cuts, which began rolling out November 1. Many toys will be on sale for 50 percent off through Nov. 25.
.
Best Buy is making a pitch to draw in value-conscious consumers by offering a $250 computer, the cheapest laptop the chain's ever sold. The Acer laptop, with a Intel Celeron 900 processor, 2 GB memory, and a 160 GB hard drive, went on sale in stores and online earlier this week."
.
Check here for the PepBoys Black Friday Ad
Check here for the True Value Black Friday Ad
