Black Friday 2013: Walmart Joins Kmart On Thanksgiving Day

For Black Friday 2013, Walmart has decided to join KMart in preempting the “holiday” by opening for Thanksgiving deals.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, consumers have already provided some backlash on Kmart’s decision to open Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving morning.

The two retailers are not alone in their recent decision to break longstanding Black Friday tradition. Many other’s have joined the recent trend of opening for turkey day or opening earlier than previously, including Macy’s who, after 155 years, have finally decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving at 8 pm. Toy-R-Us will also open at 5 PM and Best Buy opens at 6 PM, matching Walmart’s Black Friday plans.

Chief merchandising and marketing officer for Walmart in the US, Duncan Mac Naughton, claims that despite the online petition signed by 30,000 employees asking for no work on Thanksgiving Day, one million employees are “really excited to work that day”.

Despite the fact that Black Friday 2013 is still about two weeks away, many retailers have already released their deals. This has also lead to a sort of backlash, as some are complaining that the flood of TMI destroys the “fun” of Black Friday. This writer has dared to venture out on Black Friday all of one time, after which opting to be a die hard Cyber Monday fan. So while I will not agree that Black Friday is “fun” in any way, I will admit that there are some wicked deals to look forward to.

Since everyone else is spreading the holiday joy by sharing the deals, I will follow suit and list some of the best deals offered by Walmart:

Walmart will sell the Vizio E601i-A3 60-inch HDTV with apps and Wi-Fi for $688, down from the current price of $998. Also at Walmart: the first-gen iPad Mini (16GB) for $299, same as the current list price, but with a $100 Walmart gift card.

Walmart is also offering the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 14-B109WM for $278. Usually sold for for $398, with included Intel Celeron B877 processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and 14-inch touchscreen. Or, for even less, the HP 2000-2d09WM notebook, which has a bigger screen (15.6-inch) but no touchscreen capabilities — and an AMD E-300 processor, which will cost you $178 ($140 less than the regular price).

Another Walmart Black Friday 2013 laptop special, the HP Pavilion 15-B129WM, is available for $388, or $60 off current price. It boasts a 15.6-inch touchscreen, AMD A6-4455M processor, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drive.

One desktop sale is listed in Walmart’s ad: The HP 20-B323W all-in-one PC, which comes with an AMD E1-1500 processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and wireless keyboard and mouse, but lacks touchscreen functionality. Its going for $348, or $101 off its current $449 price

In the realm of Android tablets, Walmart will offer a $49 7-inch RCA slate at the 8 pm Thanksgiving one-hour guarantee event, and the outlet also has a couple of other notable tablets specials. Starting at an unreleased time on Thanksgiving morning, you’ll be able to grab an iPad 2 with a Bluetooth speaker and accessory kit for $349 through Walmart.com. and they will be offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1-inch tablet for $299, or $60 less than Samsung is presently selling it for on its own site.

So what do you think; ready to ditch Black Friday to partake in some Thanksgiving deals instead?