Shop Talk

Check Out Line: Thinking about Black Friday deals

Check Out this prediction about Black Friday deals.

Black Friday, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday that typically kicks off the holiday shopping season, is known for some of the best discounts of the year, both in stores and on the Web.

And its never too early to think about deals, as illustrated by dealsnews.com, which has compiled a list of what it predicts will be the best holiday deals to emerge between mid-November and “Cyber Monday” — the Monday after Thanksgiving when office workers go online en masse to shop for specials.

This year’s list kicks of with expected deals on netbooks, which are inexpensive and compact laptops suited for basic computing and surfing the Internet.

Dealsnews predicted that a Linux-based netbook with 9-inch screen will be as cheap as $129, while pricier models would be ”well-equipped” $399 netbooks with 15.4-inch screens.

If you are in the market for a flat-screen TV, the Web site predicted that you are likely to find an abundance of deals. TVs traditionally are one of the top-selling items around the holidays since retailers offer deep discounts on them. This year, a 40-inch or 42-inch LCD high-definition TV could be as cheap as $449 while the bigger brand-name one with 52-inch screen could be on the market for $1,049, the Web site showed.

The site also said shoppers should be able to snag good deals on Blu-ray players, and items like digital photo frames.

Vitamins, cheaper meat, infant clothes big recession sellers

Mike Duke, the newly installed CEO of Wal-Mart, has been watching the recession play out in the cash register at his stores.

In an interview on the Today Show, Duke took Matt Lauer on a walk through a Walmart store, and talked about how he is seeing his shoppers navigate the downturn.

• They are buying bigger boxes of diapers at the beginning of the month, when they have just been paid, but gravitating toward smaller boxes when they run out of cash later in the month.
• They are taking more vitamins, hoping to keep themselves healthy and avoid having to miss any time at work.
• Infant clothes are selling faster than adult apparel as parents forsake the latest styles to keep their growing children clothed.
• While flat panel televisions may seem like a splurge, they are more of a necessity when a family is spending less on entertainment outside of the home and forgoing vacations.
• They are using cash more often to pay for their purchases.

When might Duke get a sense that consumers are feeling a little bit better about things?

He said possibly when more expensive cuts of meat start ringing up strong sales again.

(Photo: Reuters)