The list is here. The Christian Science Monitor has the back story, a dark tale of intrigue featuring a bunch of websites you've never heard of unless you're, well, obsessed with Black Friday deals. Me, I sleep late the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Update: Amazon has a special website for their Black Friday deals. These two are now the Mothra and Godzilla of Black Friday; should be fun to watch them go head-to-head.
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Unless Apple decides to release a new gadget on that day, right?
Apple's BF deals leaked too. 25% off Macbooks, supposedly.
I, personally, will be taking my car in for it's 120k mile servicing.
Wow, a 1TB external HD for $78.
Thanks for sharing!
Now, the big question: do I let my wife see this?
People themselves are releasing their deals. On a recent visit to a local pawn shop, I noticed power tools, cameras, and car stereos in quantities several times normal. Most noteworthy was the number of handguns people had pawned. A display that normally would have had six or a dozen handguns was packed with perhaps a hundred or more. On the other hand, digital televisions were few in number. People are hanging on to their nice TV sets come what may.
Maybe the people who stocked up thinking Obama would start his first year by taking away all their guns decided to pawn them for food, shelter, and/or gifts.
I don't know, but pawning guns implies to me real upheavals in family life. Money is needed quickly. Man leaves town looking for work, wife/girlfriend pawns gun. Moving out, or in with mom, can't keep gun. Or dejection -- car needs gas, pawns gun. Or entering rehab, pawns gun, maybe.
Looks more like they're just trading for new ones:
Smith & Wesson, the famed American gunmaker once owned by Tomkins, the British conglomerate, expects to nearly double its annual sales in the next three to five years as demand for its firearms soars in the recession. It is not alone.
All over America demand for firearms and ammunition is rising amid concerns that rising unemployment, which passed 10 per cent this month, will lead inexorably to higher rates of crime. Fears of terrorism have also helped to lift demand, as have concerns among gun owners that the Obama Administration may introduce restrictions on gun ownership and impose additional taxes.
I don't know about seizing guns, but a gigantic new tax certainly wouldn't surprise me. Or it may just be the economy.
slickdeals.net FTW
Is this post a commercial?
If I had my way (as dictator of America), I would ban all stores from being open on Thanksgiving or the day after. Same with Christmas day.
As a child I always liked when holidays rolled around and stores would be closed so that if you didn't get your snacks or gifts or food, you were out of luck. You could drive down the streets and see them empty, but in the windows of homes see a warm glow. Like everyone was safe inside the "holiday ark". On the night before you might run out and find half your neighborhood picking something up at the store, all in festive mood. You couldn't run out on the day of and pick the extra ingredient, unless maybe you lived in Manhattan where some shops would be open.
Now, everything is open even on Thanksgiving and there is no sense of specialness or sacredness. Combine that with the rush to go shopping the day after, or the rush after Christmas to return what you don't want.
So shut down all the stores by ban and none of them really lose money. Just forces people to wait and reflect more. Yes, my totalitarian instincts.