Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it will not only move its 2012 Black Friday sales earlier into Thanksgiving evening, but guarantee some sale products to any customers waiting in line at a certain time. The first round of bargains will start for Wal-Mart shoppers who are brave enough to venture into the pre-Black Friday madness at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, this year.
Later phases of in-store specials will begin at 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday morning. Black Friday, which marks the official beginning of the holiday shopping season, is a crucial day for the Bentonville, Ark.-based company, which sees more than a quarter of its annual sales during the holiday season.
“We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers,” said Wal-Mart U.S. Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Duncan Mac Naughton. “‘We got customer feedback that says ‘I like to shop earlier so I can go to bed earlier.”
Round one specials will include deals on toys, games, home goods and clothing. Shoppers shouldn’t count out the early savings, though. Beginning at 8 p.m. Wal-Mart will offer an Xbox 360 4GB with SkyLanders bundle for $149 and a Wii for $89. Other items on sale early will include a Crock Pot 6-quart slow cooker and a Mr. Coffee programmable 12-cup coffee maker, each for $9.44, as well as a variety of DVD and Blu-ray movies for as low as $1.96 each, and Barbie, Disney and Bratz dolls for $5.
Starting at 10 p.m. Wal-Mart will start rolling out the big-ticket items on sale, mainly electronics. Shoppers can anticipate Samsung 43-inch 720p plasma HDTVs for just $378, HP 15.6-inch laptops with 4GB and 320GB hard drives for $279 each, Samsung Smart ST195 digital cameras for $99 and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones for $179.95. What stands out for Wal-Mart’s 2012 Black Friday, and pre-Black Friday specials, however, are the guaranteed items.
Walmart is guaranteeing any customer inside the store and waiting in line between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. will be able to purchase three special items: An Apple iPad2 16GB with Wi-Fi for $399 with a $75 Wal-Mart gift card, an Emerson 32-inch 720p LCD TV for $148, and an LG Blu-ray Player for just $38. Once the items are sold out, any customer still waiting for one will receive a card guaranteeing the item provided it is paid for before midnight and registered online.
Round three of the Black Friday specials will begin at 5 a.m. Items on sale will include home goods, jewelry, tires and furniture. Wal-Mart will also offer separate online deals during both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
