mcwalker

And more Surprise Door Busters from Target (shown on the store map page): - LG 22" 1080p 60Hz LED TV - Magnavox 40" LED TV - Philips Wi-Fi Bluray Disc Player - Samsung 2D WiFi Blu-ray Player - Sanus Large Low Profile Wall Mount for 32" - 70" TVs - Sharp Aquos 60" DLED TV - Vizio 32" LED TV - Westinghouse 24" 720p 60Hz LED HDTV

And here is another Surprise Door Buster HDTV for the kids (and young at heart) from Target: Hello Kitty 19" Class 720p 60Hz LED TV/Monitor in Black/Pink/White I think the colors refer to the Hello Kitty on top of the TV, not a choice of colors. I am guessing this is an Element TV as well.

Looking at the store map for a store near me I see that Target will have three additional Element HDTVs shown as "Surprise Door Busters." The price is not shown but the site says that it will be revealed on 11/28 Thanksgiving Day. The three TVs are: Element 19" Class 720p 60Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV Element 32" Class 720p 60Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV Element 40" Class 1080p 120Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV These should all be cheaper than the already advertised Element 50" for $229. I have added these to the Item Listing so you can add them to your shopping list if interested.

Looking at the store map for my store I see that Target will have three additional Element HDTVs shown as "Surprise Door Busters." The price will be revealed on 11/28 Thanksgiving Day. The three TVs are: Element 19" Class 720p 60Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV Element 32" Class 720p 60Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV Element 40" Class 1080p 120Hz Flat Panel LED HDTV These should all be cheaper than the already advertised Element 50" for $229. I have added these to the Item listing so you can add them to your shopping lists if interested.

The first post has been updated with new forecast maps for Thursday and Friday.

None in the New York Times, just pre-BF ads.

The best day of the year to shop for a car is the day that you have done your research, comparison shopped thoroughly, and are ready to negotiate with a dealer or identify a best offer through online means. The worst day of the year to buy a car is the day you walk into a dealer unprepared, take their word for how fantastic their deals are, and sign on the dotted line without doing your own comparison research in advance.

My guess is that some dealers will say that they are offering Black Friday deals in ads, but the deals will not be any different than the deals they offer other weeks. The best deals are likely when they move out the end of the current year's models to bring in next year's models, and for most I think that already happened sometime in the summer/early fall.

Generally, blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt with GottaDeal t-shirt on the outside, then a heavy coat. Unfortunately the heavy coat covers the t-shirt but I sometimes take it off or at least open it while in stores. If it is particularly cold, gloves and hood while waiting in line (always for less than 2 hours), but I leave those in the car after first store. Due to early openings, I won't be waiting in line too long this year.

Got my shirt in New York today. Looks great! And thanks for the USB car charger. My daughter snatched that.

That's why I switched from charts to ads this year.

Final UPDATE 11/27 9AM EST: Here is the current (as of 11/27 9AM) forecast map for Thanksgiving Day 11/28: http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af182/mcwalker59/ThursdayForecast201311279AM.jpg And here is the forecast for Black Friday 11/29 (as of 11/27 9AM): http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af182/mcwalker59/FridayForecast201111279AM.jpg Thursday: Mostly lake effect snow around the Great Lakes, but smaller area than in previous forecasts. Gusty winds in the morning in New York City will require Macy's to keep some balloons out of the parade and others lower to the ground. (That is where I will be tomorrow morning.) Just a bit of rain/snow around the Sierras in California, but the "coast is clear" of rain Thursday. It will be Cool to COLD for much of the country. Friday: the snow in the northeast backs off (but Buffalo and Erie snowy as "always"). Rain for the southern California coast and around Seattle (but they are used to it). This is the final update. Everyone have fun out there and stay warm! If you want to tell about your local forecast, be sure to say where you live.

The decision about when to place the ads comes from the advertisers (who pay for them), not the newspapers. The stores want their ads in the papers that get the widest circulation (Sunday and Thanksgiving Day due to special purchases). I don't subscribe to a paper, but have bought the Thanksgiving Day paper at a newstand ever since I started Black Fridaying. This year I will take a look at Sunday's and buy it if there are ads.

Used to be that Kmart distinguished between Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales because they were separate, and there is an ad posted for Macy's "Thanksgiving Sale" but it is actually a sale that runs now through 12/3 that overlaps their "Black Friday" sale. So at this point, it is all the same: these are essentially "Thanksgiving/Black Friday Sales" with multiple parts at some stores just to keep us on our toes.

To sum up things so far, with 56 members voting: Walmart is #1 with 13.1% followed fairly closely by Target at 10.8% of respondents. Kohls & J.C.Penney are tied at 5.5% closely followed by Toy-R-Us, K-Mart, Best Buy, & Macys. Somewhat surprising to me is Sears lackluster showing at only 2.0% since they have broad merchandise and good deals. J.C.Penney's showing is a bit up from last year I think (I didn't look), as they are making a better effort this year. Best Buy always gets a lot of noise on this site as an electronics leader, but their showing is always lower because their size and range of merchandise is smaller than the department stores (or is it just because Dev/BigJimSlade won't be camping out there this year?) Not so many people going to outlet centers. Maybe because many of the other stores will be open all night too, now (and outlet centers aren't near everyone's homes). For online, Amazon is expected to be the big winner (of course), but people are also expecting to shop Target.com, BestBuy.com, and Walmart.com. Anyone else want to add your plans? Or change your earlier response to reflect changes in plans?

Note that the printed Macy's ad includes "Web ID" numbers for most of the items in the ad, which should help find the corresponding item in the online sale. http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/BlackFridayScans/Macys

I can see the split between Sunday and Thanksgiving Day continuing. A few of the ads have text that indicates that they will be in the Thanksgiving paper. I doubt that we will see any significant ads in the Monday-Wednesday papers.

I thought 18/19/20 year-olds were MADE for Black Friday! (But best to conceal presents from the people they are for.)

I added a shop on Thursday only option. No way to have a fill in the blank question here. You should be able to cast a "vote" on one question without the other, and you can also return and change your responses later with this new Forum software.

Here is another poll with two questions, one "serious" and one a bit "tongue-in-cheek." What other options should I add to the second question?

There has been infinitely more "crazyness" at every Walmart I have seen on Black Friday than at Best Buy, and I have always gone to both. Best buy was crowded but well run, whereas Walmart's management of the situation was always poor, even when they tried. Some of the methods they are trying this year might improve things.

Darn. My car battery went kathunk the night before last and I decided to go to PepBoys last night to get it replaced. I had a coupon that should have been valid but they gave some mumbo jumbo and wouldn't take it. I am kicking myself because the same item has a discount on Black Friday, but without a reliable car battery in place, Black Friday could be a real disaster for me.

I see that listed as "Fisher-Price Growing Baby Infant Toys" in the list. (Maybe someone else added it this morning?) Also, I forgot to ask people to indicate the scan page number in their posts, but have added that to my first post now. It helps us find things quickly--especially if a listing is missing.

If you see an error in an item listing or an item missing from a listing that has been typed up, post it in this thread and I or one of Brad's other helpers I will fix it in the listings. For an error, please indicate the store first, then the item as listed, scan page number, then what is wrong. For a missing item, please indicate the store first, the scan page number, then the item. Please limit posts in this thread to this editorial issue, other threads are for discussion of items. Thanks. Of course, if there is an error in the ads themselves, we can't do anything about that!

Thanks to both of you for the movies and TV show lists. These are helpful. I was hoping to find a final season of Lost in the discounted shows. I suppose I should pick up Walker Texas Ranger for no reason other than my last name is Walker and I grew up in Texas.