The Meijer Black Friday advertisement contains seven pages of doorbuster items. Doorbuster sales start at 5am and wrap up at noon, with non-doorbuster sales ending at midnight.
In past years, Meijer has held additional, separate sales on Thanksgiving and Saturday (11/27). We expect this to also hold true this year. Once we have additional details to share, we will keep you posted!
A Flurry of Cease & Desists: JCP, Michaels and Belk
The lawyers were out in full force today as we received cease-and-desists from three of the four stores we posted.
Things kicked off almost immediately as we received a phone call from JC Penney no less than a couple hours after our original post. JC Penney informed us that if we wanted to remain in their affiliate program, we would have to remove the ad; we chose to leave their affiliate program. Later in the day, we received a letter from JC Penneyâs legal counsel asking us to remove their ad because "the copy posted does not appear to be a final version. It may contain inaccurate information that will be confusing to our consumers. At the least, it is not an accurate representation of the final marketing piece."
All pretty standard for a Black Friday C&D, right? Except that before we received the C&D, JC Penneyâs affiliate manager, Lori Caldwell, sent out the print-quality version of their advertisement to all affiliates.
There is no difference between the original advertisement we posted and the one sent to us by JCP, which make us wonder what their lawyer meant by "not [appearing] to be a final version" when both versions are identical.
It's very interesting because JC Penneyâs actions directly contradict their words. We were hoping JC Penney would follow the lead of market leaders Kohl's and Macy's, who are both prominently featured on BFAds, but that would make too much sense.
Please feel free to voice your thoughts and views towards Lori Caldwell at lcaldwe4@jcpenney.com
In a more traditional style, both the Michaels and Belk ads have also been removed. Neither will be reposted. They will all be getting t-shirts.
With the exception of Walmart, it's very interesting that all of the cease and desist letters have come from smaller stores, while larger have remained quiet (some even supportive). It's definitely an interesting dynamic.
Are larger stores more familiar with the idea that once their ad leaks, they'll never be able to stop its distribution? Are the larger stores more confident in their adâs prices that they don't mind that people see them early? Is Michaels really scared that Joann Fabrics and Craft Warehouse are going to alter their ads to undercut Michaels?
We'll never get a straight answer out of any retailer (even the ones that don't object to their ad being posted), but it is something to think about.
The Olympia Sports ad features three pages of doorbuster sales going on from 5am to 2pm on Black Friday. Additionally, the ad contains a 20% Off Any One Item Coupon good the entire Black Friday weekend.
Today we are giving away an Apple iPod Touch (32gb) and two $100 Gift Cards to the Store of Your Choice!
Tonight's give-away ends at 11:59:59 CST. You only need to enter the November Holiday Give-Away Contest once and you will be eligible for every daily give-away. Limit 1 entry per person.
You can find all information about the November Holiday Give-Away Contest along with the daily prize schedule and past winners on our November Holiday Give-Away Contest page.
As we roll closer to Black Friday, more information about online sale start times will become available for all stores, including Costco. Be sure to stay tuned!
Toys R Us wins the award for earliest start time this year as they're not even starting on Black Friday: the Toys R Us Black Friday sale starts at 10pm Thanksgiving! Toys R Us will also be putting an extra set of doorbusters live at 5am Friday (see pages 13-16 in the advertisement scan).
This years Toys R Us ad has over 150 doorbusters, including:
The sale starts today and lasts through November 29. We're told that some of the prices offered in this sale match Home Depot's planned Black Friday sale prices. Some of the more prominent deals include:
All of these appliances feature 0% financing if paid in full within 18-months and Home Depot's "Really Free Delivery" (which includes haul-away) throughout the entirety of the sale.
JCPenney's sale is only good 4am-1pm on Black Friday and features over 300 door-buster deals. After the door-buster hours, over 250 "Big Buy" items will remain on sale until their 11pm close.
JC Penney is also giving shoppers a chance for a "second wind," by offering a $10 off $50 Coupon and a $15 off $75 Coupon from 3pm-11pm, available both in-store and online!
As always, JCPenney has a free gift for the early bird shoppers; this year it's a Disney Christmas Mickey Snowglobe. No purchase necessary and only while supplies last!
The Michaels ad is broken into four separate sales:
Thanksgiving Doorbusters (Red Pages) - Available Thanksgiving Day 5pm - 9pm
Friday Doorbusters (Blue Pages) - Available Black Friday 5am - 10pm
Saturday Doorbusters (Pink Pages) - Available Saturday 8am - 10pm
3-Day Sale (Green Pages) - Available Thanksgiving through Saturday
Thursday and Friday's doorbuster sales both feature 30% Off your Entire Purchase Coupons, while Friday and Saturday's doorbuster sales feature a 50% Off One Regular Price Item. Saturday's sale also features a For Every $25 Spent, Receive a $5 Michaels Gift Card coupon!
Tonight's give-away ends at 11:59:59 CST. You only need to enter the November Holiday Give-Away Contest once and you will be eligible for every daily give-away. Limit 1 entry per person.
You can find all information about the November Holiday Give-Away Contest along with the daily prize schedule and past winners on our November Holiday Give-Away Contest page.
For Kohl's cardholders, use coupon code HOLIDAYGIFT to take 30% off your purchase!
For non-cardholders, use the coupon code EXTRA20 to take 20% off your purchase!
On top of that, everyone (cardholders and non-cardholders) gets $10 Kohl's Cash for every $50 spent from November 10th to 17th. Kohl's cash is redeemable in-store and online from November 16th to 24th.
Free Ground Shipping for orders more than $75; cardholders can use the coupon FREE2MVC for free shipping on all orders (regardless of amount spent).
Stores open at 5:30am Friday, but Radio Shack will be putting these items available for purchase online starting Thursday, November 25. Shop online on Thursday and use Friday to pick up any items you missed!
We just posted the 195-item Meijer Black Friday Ad and 12-page Meijer Black Friday advertisement scans.
