Retailers Brace For Black Friday And Begin Releasing Sales Fliers

Once again, we're just about two weeks away from the start of the 2010 Christmas buying season, which will be augmented by a severely shortened Hannukah buying season that starts earlier than usual. The Jewish holiday of Hannukah will start on December 1, meaning that folks buying those gifts will have to start earlier than usual and could mean a distortion of retail information overall as buyers surge to stores before December 1 to take advantage of the sales, but lessen as the season wears on.

Retailers make the bulk of their annual sales during this season, and they need strong sales to make up for what has been lackluster results once again. Sales are leaking out online and comparison shopping for the best bargains is something I do well in advance to maximize my shopping experience.


Black Friday Ads has some sales up for Sears, Lowes, Toys R Us, and Kmart. More will follow.

BFADS.NET also has listings posted.

Both sites offer up shopping lists and other features to track information so that you can hunt down the best deals. Thus far, it looks like retailers aren't going for the crash discounts seen in past years because they've done a better job managing their inventories so as to reduce the need for major sales. There are some doorbusters that seem to be huge deals, including one at Sears for a stainless steel French Door refrigerator that is going for $1,099, when it normally retails for $2,399. Target is selling a Tom Tom GPS for $79, which is $100 off the original price.

Home Depot isn't letting these websites carry their doorbusters sales because it claims that it undermines the company's advertising and marketing deals, but they'll probably release that information next week so that people can have a few days to figure out what and where to buy.

Televisions and electronics are again a big deal, and there should be some good sales. I don't think clothing will see as many good deals, but you might score a good deal by looking through the items individually on the sites. Toys R Us is providing gift cards with doorbusters purchases of certain iPod Touches.

At the same time, some retailers are promoting early "Black Friday" sales, which are really nothing more than repackaged sales promotions or aren't really any different from the usual sales offered at other times of the year. It really pays to read the fine print and look for the good deals. They're out there - but you have to know where to look and to do your research.