13 Nov Walmart announces Black Friday hours, deals
Walmart on Tuesday unveiled its earliest Black Friday hours on record and a list of deals that trumps last years prices and guarantees.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will open with doorbusters at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and will offer additional deals two hours later at 8 p.m. and again at 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
Walmart–the first retailer last year to announce a one-hour guarantee on hot items–is repeating the promotion with deeper discounts on a longer list of items.
The one-hour guarantee at 6 p.m. includes an Apple iPad mini Wi-Fi 16GB in two colors for $299 with a $100 Walmart gift card; a Vizio 60″ Class Smart LED 1080p HDTV for $688; a Furby Boom! for $29; HP Pavilion TouchSmart 14-B109WM Laptop for $278 and other deals.
The one-hour guarantee at 8 p.m. includes Beats by Dr. Dre Solo Headphones for $114.95, Straight Talk Galaxy Centura prepaid phone for $29 and RCA 7″ Dual Core Tablet for $49.
Customers who are in designated lines at Walmart between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day can purchase the one-hour guarantee items and receive them either that evening or before Christmas.
Another change this year is that Walmart will hand out wristbands to customers that will enable them to shop for deals while they wait for big deals on electronics and other items.
Prior to the 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. events, customers need to go to the designated line within the store to secure a wristband for certain products. Wristbands will be distributed while supplies last, according to a press release.
Once customers have the wristbands, they can shop for other gifts throughout the store while they wait for the 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. events to start.
To receive the product for which they’re wearing the wristband, they need to return to the designated line within two hours of the 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. events.
A full list of Walmart’s deals can be viewed at http://news.walmart.com/blackfriday.
Walmart will also offer manager’s specials for the first time on Black Friday. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, Walmart will drop prices on entire categories and brands, and empower local store managers to lower prices on other items, according to a news release.
The details of those details can be viewed once customers like their local Walmart Facebook page.
Walmart’s 6 p.m. start is not the earliest opening time for Black Friday sales.
-Kmart will open at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving Day and remain open until 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
-Toys R Us will open at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
-Old Navy will open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, and will reopen at 7 p.m. that evening and stay open through Black Friday.
Best Buy will open at 6 p.m., and a number of retailers set opening times at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, including Bon-Ton, J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Sears.
A holiday shopping season that once began at about 5 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving has slowly crept into the traditional turkey dinner.
Several years ago, some stores started offering 12 a.m. deals, and then a few years ago Walmart offered doorbusters at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, and two years ago Toys R Us opened at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
Last year, many retailers opened at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, including Kmart, Sears and Walmart.