Black Friday 2014 toll at 2 deaths, 5 injuries

The shopping frenzy that is Black Friday continues to rack up human casualties.
The grim website Black Friday Death Count tallied two deaths and five injuries from crazed shoppers at post-Thanksgiving sales this year.
The website has been tracking deaths and injuries associated with the start of the Christmas shopping season since 2006.

Note: Updated Nov. 30, 2014.

The day after Christmas: A second-chance Black Friday

Retailers are having a tough go of it this year. So in an effort to salvage the Christmas selling season, many stores are having big sales the day after Christmas. Some are calling this Friday, a second Black Friday.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, got its name because it was the date historically when many retailers turned a profit or, in accounting lingo, went into the black. But with many retailers still seeing red, stores have decided another round of door-buster deals were in order.
Kohl’s, Macy’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods were among the retailers with newspaper supplements advertising big sales for the day after Christmas this year.
Among electronics retailers, GameStop, RadioShack and Toys “R” Us were trumpeting major sales.
GameStop spotlighted the red-hot category of music video games on the cover of its newspaper supplement. It’s offering bundles for Viacom and EA’s “Rock Band 2” and Activision’s “Guitar Hero: World Tour.” The sets feature guitar, drum and microphone peripherals along with the actual game for wannabe rock stars.
GameStop is charging $169.99 for its “Rock Band 2” bundle for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 console. That’s $20 off, or 11% less than the regular price of $189.99. The “Guitar Hero: World Tour” band kit for Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo’s Wii console sells for $189.99.
GameStop obviously is looking for shoppers to cash in gift cards on those pricey sets.
RadioShack and Toys “R” Us are smartly targeting people who just received portable devices, like Apple iPods and Nintendo’s DS game machine. Both are selling accessories on discount.
They are offering deals on MP3 music player accessories such as cases, chargers, earbuds, FM transmitters and speaker docks. Toys “R” Us is advertising sales of camera cases, GPS accessories, and video game software and controllers.
With a nod to the coming digital television transition, RadioShack is promoting digital-to-analog converter boxes.
“Hurry – Just a few short weeks until the switch to 100% digital TV,” the ad says. “If you have an analog TV and use a rooftop antenna or rabbit ears, you must take action before February 17, 2009, to continue receiving TV broadcasts. Visit your local RadioShack now for the latest information and the gear you’ll need.”
RadioShack is selling a converter box for $59.99. With a $40 government coupon available from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the final cost is just $19.99. Visit the TV Converter Box Coupon Program Web site.
Converter box sales have been very important to RadioShack lately.
“The sales generated by converter boxes significantly contributed to our results during the last two quarters and also illustrates RadioShack’s reputation for helping our customers choose the best personal technology solutions that meet their needs,” RadioShack CEO Julian Day said in a statement Oct. 23.
Despite a difficult economic environment, RadioShack’s sales rose 6% to $1.02 billion in the third quarter from the same period a year ago. In the second quarter, sales were up 6% to $995 million.
Those year-over-year sales gains followed seven straight quarters of declining sales.

Tis the season for out-of-control shoppers

The Christmas shopping season kicked off with three deaths in two separate incidents at stores holding early-morning sales on Black Friday. Merry Christmas, everyone!
A worker at the Wal-Mart store in Valley Stream, N.Y., was trampled to death by out-of-control shoppers who broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were injured as they tried to rescue the man. Shoppers stepped over the victim on the ground and streamed into the store. Customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials told them the store was closing because of the death, the Associated Press reported.
At the Toys “R” Us in Palm Desert, Calif., shoppers ran for cover when two men shot and killed each other in the store, press reports said. Joy to the world! (Photos by AP, see links.)
Last year, there were only sporadic conflicts and violence among shoppers on Black Friday, according to Cnet. But in 2006, there were numerous reports of crowds getting violent at post-Thanksgiving sales.
Good news for shoppers who didn’t get the big deals on Friday: Many stores are planning doorbuster sales on Saturday too.

Black Friday deals could mean a blue Christmas

Retailers have baited their hooks with tempting after-Thanksgiving sales, but the question is whether consumers will bite.

With Americans worried about the economy, their investments, home values and jobs, many aren’t in much of a buying mood this holiday season. But stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart hope to change their minds with one word: doorbuster.

Doorbusters are those super low-priced items, available in limited quantities, at early-bird sales. They get their name from the mobs of crazed shoppers who practically bust down doors to get inside a store to grab bargains when it opens.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s hot in electronics at this year’s early-bird doorbuster sales on Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the annual Christmas shopping season:

• Blu-ray Disc players and movies: With Blu-ray Disc now established as the high-definition successor to the DVD, consumer electronics manufacturers and Hollywood studios are driving down prices to encourage mass market adoption of the blue-laser format. Wal-Mart is selling a Magnavox Blu-ray Disc player on Black Friday for $128. (A year ago, the cheapest Blu-ray Disc players were about $300.) Wal-Mart also is selling a Samsung Blu-ray player for $199. Plus, the discount chain is selling several Blu-ray movies for $15 each, including “Iron Man” and “Transformers.” (Blu-ray Disc movies usually cost $20 to $40.)
• HDTVs: Retailers are sitting on a glut of flat-panel LCD and plasma high-definition televisions ordered before the economy turned south. Add to that struggling and bankrupt retailers like Circuit City and Tweeter liquidating inventory and forcing other retailers to drop prices to stay competitive. For more details, read the article in Investor’s Business Daily. Wal-Mart is selling a Samsung 50-inch plasma HDTV for $798 and a Polaroid 42-inch widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV for $598.
• Portable GPS navigation systems: Faced with competition from GPS-enabled smart phones and factory-installed car navigation systems, portable navi device sellers like Garmin and TomTom are breaking the $100 price barrier. Wal-Mart is selling a Garmin Nuvi 200 with 3.5-inch display for $97. RadioShack is offering a TomTom One 125 with a 3.5-inch screen for $99.99.

Low-cost notebook PCs and video game system bundles also are popular doorbuster deals this year.
For more deals, check out:
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
http://www.blackfriday.info/
http://www.blackfridayads.com/
http://www.theblackfriday.com/