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Thanksgiving
Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year.
In addition, Walmart.com will begin offering Black Friday sales on a limited number of items Thursday morning.
The announcement comes as a growing list of retailers – from Best Buy to Toys R Us, and most recently Target – said they will push their Black Friday initiatives to Thursday.
Wal-Mart announced that it will begin its in-store Black Friday sales at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year
“We’re always looking at what’s going on in the competitive environment,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Walmart U.S.
Wal-Mart will bring back its one-hour guarantee during events at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, followed by an 8 a.m. event on Black Friday. If customers are in a designated line within an hour of one of these sales’ kickoffs, they are guaranteed to receive an item at a certain price either that night or before Christmas.
The program is expanding to 21 products this season from three last year, ranging from a Vizio 60-inch LED HDTV for $688, to a one-carat diamond and sterling silver pendant and earring set for $98. The stores will integrate wristbands so shoppers can browse the store while waiting for the events to begin.
Wal-Mart is also ramping up its social media and online components, advertising “manager’s specials” – when managers will lower prices for an entire category – on its local Facebook pages, and curating deal maps on its website to be viewed while in-store.
Black Friday is just days away, and shoppers already have started to refine their shopping lists, searching for ads online that reveal gotta-have gifts and rock-bottom prices at major retailers.
The holiday shopping season represents the bulk of many merchants’ yearly sales, so luring shoppers early is important, retail analysts say. Dozens of Black Friday websites entice shoppers with early releases of ads.
Retailers count on shoppers poring over their newspaper inserts. Papers’ Thanksgiving Day editions often are the largest of the year.
“This is the one time of year when consumers have the opportunity to see all this sales stuff in advance,” said Brad Wilson, who has a website called BradsDeals.com.
“It gives people three or four weeks to strategize about what they are going to buy.”
Online sneak-peak ads for Black Friday come out earlier every year, he said.
Black Friday 2013
“Consumers love the game of it all,” Brad Wilson said.
“They want to find the best deals. And they want to be able to get to the right stores at the right time.”
Shoppers caught up in the adrenaline rush of getting the best Black Friday deals – like last year’s $97 flat screen television – will be in for even better deals this year, Brad Wilson is predicting.
“The bargains have gotten better every year for a while,” he said.
Some of the websites that already have started posting Black Friday ads:
• BFAds.net
• BlackFriday.com
• Brad’s Black Friday
• dealnews.com
• TheBlackFriday.com
Kmart’s decision to open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and stay open through Friday (41 hours) sparked anger among its customers.
People have threatened to boycott Kmart store for not allowing employees to go home and spend the Thanksgiving Day with their families.
In the past, Kmart still opened 6 a.m., but let employees go home at 4 p.m. to have dinner.
People have threatened to boycott Kmart store for not allowing employees to go home and spend the Thanksgiving Day with their families
When Kmart announced they weren’t doing that this year, people filled the store’s Facebook page with messages calling the company “greedy,” “heartless,” and “morally bankrupt.”
Kmart says they will staff each store with volunteers and seasonal employees where possible, and that the decision came after customers indicated they wanted more flexible holiday shopping hours.
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The 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns to kick-off this year’s holidays with its giant balloons, floats of fancy, marching bands, celebrities and, of course, Santa Claus.
Duck Dynasty cast will join Goo Goo Dolls, Kristen Chenoweth, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Sharon Jones, The Dap Kings, and Gavin DeGraw for this year’s parade. Jimmy Fallon will also make an appearance along with NFL Legend Joe Namath. There will also be performances by the Radio City Rockettes and Broadway’s best musicals including “Matilda,” “Motown” and more. The Big Apple Circus, Sesame Street and Cirque du Soleil will also get into the act.
On Thursday, November 28, the newest Snoopy balloon will take flight along with his pal Woodstock marking another record-setting stint in the holiday spectacle. The Charles M. Schulz classic comic character will soar in his 37th Macy’s Parade, cementing Snoopy’s long-standing record for most appearances and most balloon versions, seven in total since the 1960s.
A mythical dragon will also spotted over the skies of New York City. Toothless, the star of Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon will be joining an incredible lineup of giant helium-filled balloons.
Also, this Thanksgiving the beauty and majesty of the sea will come to life on the streets of New York as SeaWorld’s A Sea of Surprises float debuts.
The 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns to kick-off this year’s holidays
The Minions of Despicable Me 2 are also set to create mayhem aboard their new float this November that will surely delight parade fans from around the country. The 33-foot long bake shop-themed float will feature 3-1/2 foot tall cupcakes.
The parade will also honor the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz with a 47-foot hot air balloon featuring Dorothy and other characters from the classic film.
From new giant characters helium balloons including Paul Frank’s iconic monkey Julius and Sonic the Hedgehog, to out-of–this world floats including Zhu-niverse and Frozen Fall Fun, the magic begins at the sound of Let’s Have A Parade. This iconic phrase has catapulted gaggles of clowns, exciting performance groups, pulse-pounding marching bands, celebrities and the one-and-only Santa Claus down the streets of Manhattan for 87 years of unrivaled wonder.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will step-off at 77th Street and Central Park West. The procession will travel down to Columbus Circle, turn onto Central Park South and march down a new path via 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas to 34th Street. At 34th Street, the Parade will make its final turn west and end at 7th Avenue in front of Macy’s Herald Square. This incredible cavalcade will make its way down 6th Avenue, a broader, more accessible path that marks only the seventh time the Parade has changed its route.
The parade will begin at 9 a.m. and end at noon.
A Holiday Treat for Children Everywhere, the motto of the Macy’s parade has stood for 86 years and will continue to usher in the season of joy for years to come.
More information on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is available to the general public at www.macys.com/parade or via the Parade Hotline at (212) 494-4495.
To view the balloons being filled with helium click here.
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Paula Broadwell looks determined to prove that her marriage is back on track following the highly public fallout over her affair with ex-CIA chief General David Petraeus.
Paula Broadwell, 40, spent Thanksgiving with her husband Dr. Scott Broadwell and their young sons.
A family friend confirmed: “Paula and Scott are working things out.
“They spent Thanksgiving together at a friend’s beach house with their children. Paula is laying low, she is concentrating on her marriage and her family, that is her priority now.”
Paula Broadwell looks determined to prove that her marriage is back on track following the highly public fallout over her affair with ex-CIA chief General David Petraeus
Turkeys are bred for their prized breast white meat.
In fact, most turkeys are fertilized via artificial insemination because they are so large, they cannot get close enough to mate.
Although the turkey can grow to 70 pounds, most toms (males) weigh in at around 20 pounds. Turkey hens are usually 8 to 16 pounds. Due to the popularity of turkeys in todays’ market, a smaller version has been bred called a fryer-roaster which weighs 5 to 8 pounds.
Frozen turkeys are readily available year-round, and fresh turkeys can easily be obtained by your grocer with a few days notice.
Most come with a pop-up thermometer to indicate when the bird is completely cooked, but it is wise to use an instant-read thermometer to be sure of internal temperature.
Many turkeys have been injected with butter or vegetable oil which are sold as self-basting turkeys. When you are ready to buy a turkey, choose a bird with smooth, creamy, soft skin, avoiding turkeys with any bruised or torn skin.
Thanksgiving Turkey
Turkey Storage
Fresh turkey may be stored up to 2 days in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Freeze no longer than two months.
Cooked turkey should be consumed within 3 days or frozen up to a month. Cooked turkey will retain its moisture if you freeze it in turkey or chicken broth.
When storing fresh turkey, be sure to remove the giblets and store separately.
The history of Black Friday began in 1966, when a story appeared in an ad in The American Philatelist. The Philadelphia Police Department used the name to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the downtown stores.
In the past few years media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red with profits to being in the black with profits- nice!
Black Friday has been the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season since the 1930s. In fact, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week during the Great Depression because retailers wanted an extra week of shopping revenue. This pleased retailers, but irritated shoppers, who had to change plans.
Black Friday has been the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season since the 1930s
Black Friday has also been known as Green Friday and is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Hailing back to at around 1966, the day was originally popular in the East coast however since 2000 is more common in other parts of the country.
Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. This year it falls on Friday 23rd November. Interestingly according to Reuters, in 2007 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush.
In 2008, Black Friday sales fell 3.4% from the year before, the first time since the National Retail Federation began tracking in 1992. The 2009 holiday shopping season was only up .4%, to $437.02 billion.
Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald and a cast of thousands bring you the 79th Anniversary of the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade, marching down State Street on Thanksgiving Day, November 22nd, 2012.
Whether you’re moving your feet to the melodic carols of marching bands, gazing skyward at the gigantic inflatable helium balloons making their way down the street, or waving at talented entertainers in decorative floats dispensing holiday cheer, there is fun to be had by all at the biggest holiday parade in Chicago.
The McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade is the only parade in the city of Chicago to feature inflatable balloons every year.
Started in the times of the Great Depression, the Parade has been lifting the spirits of Chicago and bringing the community together in celebration. Over 400,000 people lines the parade route on State Street.
The 79th Anniversary of the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade will march down Chicago’s State Street on November 22nd, 2012
2012 McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade Chicago Facts
Date: Thursday, November 22, 2012 – Thanksgiving Day
Time: 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. CST.
Admission: free
Place: Downtown Chicago on State Street -from Congress to Randolph
Find more details here
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A family of six is feared dead after a plane crashed into Arizona’ Superstition Mountains last night in a tragic Thanksgiving accident.
After the crash, the plane was split out, causing a massive fireball captured on video and seen for miles around, and left officials with little hope of finding survivors.
It is believed that the pilot has been collecting his children, with three understood to be aged between 5 and 9, for the Thanksgiving holiday and was returning home when the tiny two-engine plane crashed in the ominously-named mountain range.
There were three children and three adults on board, a spokesperson for Falcon Executive Aviation flight school in Mesa told CBS5. It is believed they are all be related.
A family of six is feared dead after a plane crashed into Arizona' Superstition Mountains last night in a tragic Thanksgiving accident
The pilot had flown into Falcon Field airport and was en route back home to Safford airfield, about 100 miles east of Phoenix, when he ran into trouble.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told FOX 10 there are “multiple fatalities”. The body of a child between the ages of 5 and 9 has been recovered at the scene, he said.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Elias Johnson said there appeared to be no survivors. The six casualties were all believed to be members of the same family, the LA Times reported.
The plane burst into flames after colliding with the mountains, which are 45 miles east of Phoenix, just below their peak, witnesses reported.
“This is some of the toughest country you can experience,” Elias Johnson said.
“That plane is all over the place up there.”
Emergency crews have begun the hike to access the wreckage in the rugged terrain to begin the search for possible survivors.
A 12-person rescue team began hiking to the site about 9:00 p.m., but the combination of the terrain and the darkness means that it will take some six hours until workers are able to reach the crash site.
Rescue crews were tonight trying to land helicopters in the mountainous area about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix in order to search for survivors.
Helicopter rescue teams reported seeing two debris field on fire, suggesting the plane broke apart on impact with the jagged rocks.
“The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain, and we’re doing our best at this point in the darkness,” Paul Babeau said.
“This is not a flat area. This is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain.”
No survivors had yet been found, he said. But “we will search throughout the night”.
According to authorities, the private aircraft was a twin-engine Rockwell AC69.
The aircraft registered owner is Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford, Arizona, according to FAA records.
A video uploaded to YouTube from a greyscale webcam shows a small white light moving from the left side of the screen to the right.
About 50 seconds into the footage the light disappears.
A few seconds later there is a sudden flash of light, then more light remains as the fires burn on the mountain.
A local resident took the video from his home in Gold Canyon, roughly seven miles away from the crash site, ABC News reported.
Graham said 911 calls began coming in around 6:30 p.m. on Friday after an explosion near the Flat Iron area close to Lost Dutchman State Park.
“People said it sounded like fireworks going off,” Graham said.
One witness told CNN that a mushroom cloud of flames lit up the evening sky.
Another local observer Ronnie Brant told KPHO TV the plane seemed to be having engine trouble.
Some witnesses said they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains.
The Superstition Mountains’ elevation is about 5,000 feet at their highest level.
The photogenic area near Lost Dutchman State Park and the Superstition Wilderness is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and is popular with hikers and horse riders.
Apache myth holds that the mountains contain a hole that is an entrance to the underworld.
Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.
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