WalMart Sending Letters Regarding Ad Release Date ~ Black Friday 2009

[kandpsmom]

It wasn't too bad here last year other than I was standing on the wrong end of the display. I wanted the $4 pjs not the flat screen tv. I had to jump back because a crazy guy went running with his cart for the tvs. Other than that it was pretty organized. Thankfully our local WM has tried to start ordering enough of the hot items to keep the chaos down.

[gavin_and_maggies_mom]

i hate to hear that so many people had a difficult time with wal mart BF. I, personally, love to go to wal-mart. since it is 24 hour you just go in, and wait by the item you want, and stay nice and warm.

last year i went an hour or so early got a cart and a hand basket, got there and scouted out all of the things i was planning on getting. i got an x-box for dh first, then easily walked to pick up a blu-ray for my dad. then i hid my cart in the grocery section with the big items hid, took the hand basket and picked out tons and tons of $2 dvds. was able to grab all of the toys i needed for ds (they were on sale, but not HUGE deals so i wasn't too worried about them)

got out with everything i went in for and was able to make it to another store that opened at 5... so everything in wal mart in less than an hour.

[VJWilson27]

Last year we went with 3 families. We all had a plan of who got what. It worked out GREAT. We got the Kitchen Aid mixer, the GPS, the cricut, 100 or so towels, four sets of of sheets, toys, games, etc. It was awesome!

[July13]

I didn't even think to shop Wal-Mart online! Will the items save in your cart and then price adjust at midnight?

[jennsvs]

I go with my mom, aunt, and my son. However my son is usually asleep in the cart. He is 8 this year so hopefully he will be awake. We get there around 2 in the morning and get all the price matching stuff, then stand by the items we want. It is a 24 store, so it isn't too bad. Last year we went to the camping section and grabbed some of those fold up chairs and were able to sit and wait. We all split up to different sections and just grab what everyone needs then meet up. I have only had two issues happen there. One year a woman nearly knocked over my cart, with a sleeping child inside. Luckily there was a police officer standing right behind me and he took her out. I do believe she did it on purpose because I had grabbed the last GPS system right before she got to it. She looked straight at my son and rammed the cart. Thankfully my son was okay and slept through it. Then last year, a woman tried grabbing items out of my cart. Just as she tried taking an Air Hogs toy, my son sat up and scared the crap out of her. The look on her face was priceless. This year, since my son will hopefully be awake, I am going to grab one of those hampers with the lid and wheels and just put my stuff in it. Much smaller than a cart.

[holamelitta]

Does anyone know when the 24-hr. Walmarts switch over to their BF prices? Is it at midnight, or at some point later in the morning? ("later" being a relative term to mean something like 5:00 or 6:00)

[cspigner28]

Originally Posted by holamelitta Does anyone know when the 24-hr. Walmarts switch over to their BF prices? Is it at midnight, or at some point later in the morning? ("later" being a relative term to mean something like 5:00 or 6:00)

In our store in SC the sales started at 5am last year

[flemishe]

What about the online sales? Do they start at midnight?

[justagirlnamedStormy]

Originally Posted by YouPdWhat They did the same thing last year & it obviously did no good. WalMart needs to come up with a ticket system like Best Buy. .

Wal-Mart is making a HUGE effort this year to prevent another accident.

This year there will be a ticket system and lines. The hot ticket items will be set up around the store (Site to store, electronics, pharmacy, some will be in grocery too since no one is actually buying groceries at that hour on black friday, etc). There will be lines to stand in for those items and unless you are buying the item, you are NOT allowed in the line. There will be line monitors. Some of the the items you will have to go ahead and pay for. Possibly all, I'm not sure. Larger items you will get a ticket and drive around back. ALL Wal-marts have to submit a layout and plan of there store of where the items will be. Supposedly these are going to be posted online sometime before the sale so customers can pull it up beforehand so they'll know where to get in line.

My store is going to have 6 police officers, which isn't really a change from any other year. My store happens to be a "Tier 3 store" which means we don't have a lot of violence issues, in safe area of town, etc. Tier 2 & 1 store are the rougher stores (in bad neighborhood, history of violence, etc). Tier 2 & 1 stores have to have additional security.

I'm on the safety team at my store so I have to be there at 4am. No black friday shopping for me :shrug7:

[mom2lucas]

that's really interesting, Stormy. I had not heard anything about this from my store-level contacts at Walmart. It would be great if they had increased security measures. We had a couple of fights at our store, but nothing too major. Most people were really nice.