Walmart celebrates Black Friday a week early, extends Christmas price match

<center style='font: 14px/22.39px "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;'>http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/stor...2a/walmart.jpg</center>All Walmart wants for Christmas is cold, hard cash, so the company is dropping tradition and offering the deals in its recent Black Friday ad to customers as early as 8AM on November 22.

Notable deals found in the ad include a 4GB Xbox 360 console for $100, a PlayStation 3 with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for $250 and a $100 2DS handheld. Many games are also discounted, including recent hits likeAssassin's Creed 4, Battlefield 4 and Beyond: Two Souls.

Why release an ad specifically created for a singled day of the year before that day has ever rolled around? Simply put, Wal Mart is employing an especially aggressive sales strategy to combat the relatively short amount of time it has to entice holiday shoppers. "Black Friday is our Super Bowl and we plan to win," stated the company's chief merchandising officer, Duncan Mac Naughton. "With six fewer days from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the retail environment is more competitive than ever. Every opportunity to get a great deal - whether this weekend, on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday weekend - matters for our customers."

Additionally, Wal Mart has revealed plans to extend its annual Christmas price matching promotion. Now, every item you purchase between November 1 and December 24 is eligible for a refund, assuming you find it included in any other stores' ads at a price cheaper than what Wal Mart's offering.

Keep in mind however, that this deal does not apply to items purchased on Black Friday or Thanksgiving Day. This promotion also ignores items you've seen on Amazon or any other non-local retailer, removing the possibility of playing retailers off one another for massive savings.

Update: An earlier version of this article mentioned a 250GB Xbox 360 on sale at $100. Walmart's sale is actually on a 4GB Xbox 360. We apologize for the confusion.

http://www.walmart.com/cp/1099264