This year, Thursday is the new black for holiday shoppers. A lot of stores plan to open on Friday at midnight or early Friday morning, but a handful of stories are opening Thanksgiving evening. Kmart will open its doors Thanksgiving Day at 8 p.m. and so will Toys"R"Us and Walmart. Target plans to open Thursday night at 9. Here's a look at some of the best deals you'll find in the madness of Black Friday shopping.
The ads scream incredible deals, offering the lowest prices of the season. And retailers are pulling out all the stops, offering everything from bargain bikes and cut-rate cookware to free dog antlers for these door buster, once-a-year sales at prices up to 80-percent off and even higher.
Shoppers will be jamming the stores, even camping out to snag deals that may only be available for a day, an hour, or when supplies run out.
In fact, this year Walmart is offering customers a "one-hour in-stock guarantee" from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thanksgiving, but only for three items: a 32-inch Emerson HDTV for $148, an LG Blu-Ray player for $38 bucks, and an Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi for $399 which is the regular retail price, but you get a $75 Walmart gift card as a bonus. Walmart says if the items sell out, they'll give customers a voucher and a guarantee they can pick them up before Christmas.
"All Black Friday sales are while supplies last and here Walmart is saying, if you're in the store for that hour, you'll be able to get this deal," said Michael Brim, who runs the website BFAds.net.
He tracks all the Black Friday deals.
One of his top picks, Kmart, is selling a 32-inch LCD T-V from Proscan for just $97. For a bigger set at a rock-bottom price, check out this 40-inch Toshiba HD television for $179.99 at Best Buy. The regular price at the store $419.99.
Also, at Best Buy is a Lenovo laptop for just $190, less than half its retail price. But, if you want a more advanced low-price laptop, Brim recommends one from Dell.
"Our pick is if you can spend $100 more, go and get the Dell, 14z 14' laptop. It's got a better processor, a little bit more memory," said Brim.
At $300, that's half-off Dell's regular price and you don't have to wait in line to get one, it's offered online only.
Sams's Club is selling this powerful Dyson upright vacuum for $249 -- about one-third off -- but you have to be a member of the Warehouse Club to get that price.
The new Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone is a hot seller. At Verizon you'll pay $249.99 with a two-year contract. But, Sam's Club is selling it for just 96-cents with a two-year Verizon service plan. So, it may be worth paying the $100-a-year membership fee to save about $250.
For an inexpensive stocking stuffer, Big Lots is selling Vivitar mini-digital camcorders for under $13, and Walmart has an assortment of popular DVD movies for under $2, like the Green Lantern.
Black Friday isn't just good for shoppers, Internet retailers expect to get online sales to increase to 12 percent this year over last year. In-store shopping will go up 4.1 percent. Stores are hiring a ton of people -- between 585,000 -- 625,000 seasonal workers. Total sales are expected to reach $682.1 billion.
Before you go, check out our Black Friday resource page.
