Kmart posts

Just when the Black Friday frenzy seems to have died down, Sears and Kmart roll out new deals for the weekend. It's the fifth week the retailers are hosting sales.

Deals at Sears this Saturday, Dec. 5 from 7 a.m. to noon include:

• Toshiba 40-inch Class 1080p LCD HDTV, sale $629.99, Reg $799.99, Save $170, while qauantities last, minimum two per store. No rainchecks.
• Craftsman 204-piece Mechanic's tool set, sale $99.99, Reg $199.99, Save $100.
• Covington long, plush robe with slippers, sale $18.99, Reg $48, Save 60.

Today, Dec. 4 until 11 p.m. and Dec. 5, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Kmart stores:

• Seven piece dining set, sale $119.99, Reg. $142.49
• Athletech women's puffy goose down jacket, sale $20.00, Reg. $70.00
• Little Tikes My Real Digital Camera, sale $19.99, Reg. $49.99

The dust of Black Friday has settled and with limited quantities now sold out, shoppers have a second chance to score savings on Cyber Monday sales. Rather than promoting specific deals this year we are seeing broad savings across entire categories such as books, jewelry, luxury goods, laptops, HDTVs, eyewear and more.

Here are a collection of Cyber Monday deals to help you finish up your holiday shopping.

Borders Cyber Monday specials:

• Buy-one-get-one 60% off (Online and in store)
• 50% off priority shipping
• Free standard shipping on orders over $10.

The ads are in! While this info is gathered in a lot of places, we thought you might like a handy list of where you can find the actual circulars from your favorite stores. So peruse away!

Another day, another Black Friday ad leaked and viewable online for your Black Friday planning pleasure.

This time Kmart's 40 page Black Friday ad has leaked, revealing exactly which toys, electronics and other goods will be getting special Black Friday pricing.

Invoking their famous Blue Light Specials, Kmart is celebrating the day of shopping with "Blue Friday" deals from 6-11 a.m.

Thanksgiving has become known to shoppers as one of the best days to buy stuff online, but like most conventional wisdom about shopping it's actually not the best day to buy online.

According to research done by Yahoo, online retailers saw a 147% increase in purchases on Black Friday compared to other days in November, more than double the increase on Cyber Monday.

This may be news to most shoppers since Cyber Monday is hyped as the best day to buy stuff online but according to Dan de Grandpre, CEO of Dealnews.com, "It's been that way for years. Every year as far back as I recall, traffic to dealnews.com was higher on Black Friday than Cyber Monday." explaining that, "After all, that makes sense, since Cyber Monday is a recently invented "Hallmark holiday": an event made-up by retailers and industry groups to drive online sales."

According to de Grandpre, there's a simple reason why shoppers buy more on Black Friday; "the deals are better." The term Cyber Monday was coined to explain the rise in sales of online items as shoppers returned to offices to get the items they missed on Black Friday but with more retailers starting sales early Cyber Monday is no longer a day to get the items you missed.

For the past several years major retailers have embraced our desire to shop earlier by offering the same doorbuster deals that draw crowds to the store, online. De Grandpre estimates that "we'll see 80-90% of the tech doorbusters available online this year, with a lower percentage of apparel and other soft goods." For shoppers this means you can enjoy all of the savings without having to worry about Black Friday safety and security.

It's not quite an official holiday -- heck, it's not even a Hallmark holiday -- but Kmart has declared this National Layaway Week. And while layaway can make a meaningful difference, particularly when budgeting for holiday gifts, don't forget you'll be paying for the privilege.

Kmart made news last year when it revived its layaway program and sister store, Sears, quickly followed suit. Now, both Kmart and Sears are extending the program to online shoppers, bringing a decidedly old practice to the newer medium.

The whole process is really pretty simple. Plug in your zip code to find a store near you offering the program (not all are) and select your items. Once you've registered and selected payment type, that store puts aside your items and online payments can be made every two weeks. Paid up items are then collected at the store.

But like many good things in life, layaway isn't free. Kmart and Sears charge a $5 fee for each item and requires a down payment of $15 or 10%, whichever is greater.

The day after Thanksgiving is both the best shopping day of the year or the worst. Combine a store offering its lowest prices all year with a crowd of anxious, cash-strapped consumers who've been standing in line for many pre-dawn hours, and you're asking for trouble.

Last year, we saw how quickly things can get out of hand, when a Walmart customer was trampled to death in Valley Stream, New York, during a Black Friday sale. There isn't any hard data on the number of injuries on Black Friday, but sadly, that wasn't an isolated incident, even for Walmart: Shoppers at the retailer have been hurt in stampedes near Grand Rapids, Michigan; another in Columbus, Ohio, reportedly took an elbow to the face. Black Friday rarely seems to pass without some scuffle or incident.

Following the long line of companies helping out the unemployed in hopes of keeping them as customers when they get back on their feet, Kmart is offering a 20% discount to the unemployed on its private label grocery and drugstore staples for up to six months.

It's a smart business move that Viagra, mobile phones, health clinics, resume printers, auto dealers and airlines, among many others, are offering job seekers struggling to pay the bills in the recession. The idea is that these customers will return to your business when they have money to spend.

The Kmart Smart Assist Savings card was started in Michigan, with its 15.2% unemployment, this summer and is being expanded across the country. It offers 20% savings on more than 1,500 of the company's brand products. Sale and clearance merchandise is excluded.

People who want the card must sign up for it online. Cards will be issued through January 2010. The only potential drawback is that it takes a bit of identification verifications to prove you're unemployed. Like the stigma of pulling out food stamps at a grocery store checkout line, fumbling for your unemployment documentation may be a little embarrassing.

It's good to be Martha Stewart. The grand dame of all things home is expanding her brands to Home Depot in January, just as her contract with Kmart expires.

Home Depot will carry a line of outdoor living, home organization and home decor products under the Martha Stewart Living brand.

It's been a while since I've been in a Kmart store, so many have closed, but a visit to Kmart.com proves that Martha Stewart Everyday items are on clearance or only available via the Web site. Fans of her bedding, bath and kitchen products need to visit Macy's for the Martha Stewart Collection carried there.

Consumers were outraged when a settlement first reported on WalletPop in June was reached between Sears Holdings over an accusation by the Federal Trade Commission that the owner of Sears and Kmart was spying on the web use and online shopping habits of its customers. They won't be a lot happier with the ending.

The feds just officially resolved the case after commissioners accepted the proposed settlement and the penalty for Sears' alleged overzealous, privacy invading behavior wasn't even a slap on the wrist. It was a gentle touch. The harshest part of whole situation was the FTC actually letting people know the situation even happened.

Scary masks and fall foliage have been gradually crowding out the swim goggles and garden fencing at my local dollar store. When I first noticed the August trend toward ghouls and gourds, I complained to dollar store staff, "it's too early for this stuff!" A couple of weeks before Halloween, Christmas stock will start making an appearance but, according to an article in the Toronto Star newspaper, Christmas has already arrived at some stores.

According to the article, desperate retailers are hoping to recover from the poor sales of the first part of the year, so at Costco, for instance, Christmas trees are parked beside the barbecues left over from an unseasonably cool Ontario summer, and the Sears Christmas catalog has long-since been delivered, although the store won't be carrying holiday merchandise until October, as usual.

Walletpop told you last year about Kmart reintroducing America to the concept of layaway purchasing, where you pay for an item in a series of installments before you actually take possession of it.

Before banks started handing out credit cards to anyone with a Social Security number and a pulse, layaway was the go-to method for acquiring something priced beyond your means. You didn't get the instant gratification of a credit card, but you also didn't rack up any interest or finance charges.

In the teeth of a gale-force recession, America has once again embraced layaway, with the back-to-school shopping season in its final weeks.

I have to applaud Kmart, and its parent company, Sears. They're sympathetic to recession-challenged customers.

Kmart started promoting its layaway program in a big way last year right about the time the economy tanked, and now Kmart and Sears are both promoting a new Christmas club.

You probably know what a Christmas club is. Any credit union has them. You open an account and put money in it all year, and near the end of the year, they'll send you a check with a little interest on top. The main attraction isn't the interest so much, but the fact that you've been saving up for Christmas and don't have to wonder where to get the money to buy your family and friends gifts.

Well, Kmart and Sears are doing the same thing. Of course, the money you put into this Christmas club has to be spent at Sears or one of its companies, which means you can also use it at Kmart, Lands' End and The Great Indoors. And if that doesn't appeal to you, then obviously, don't do it, or find a neighborhood credit union and start a Christmas club fund through there.

The basic details are as follows: activate an account between now and October 31, and start putting money into it. If you do, you'll earn 3% on your money -- up to a maximum of $100 -- up to whatever you put in there until November 14.

Welcome to Five Super Savings brought to you by Deal Seeking Mom. Each week I bring you the best grocery and health and beauty bargains around town.

I've got some great coupon freebies for you this week, plus some fabulous deals that everyone can take advantage of because they use printable coupons.

1) Register for a free product coupon from Gardein. Gardein offers premium vegetarian entrees, so this is an excellent way to try them out!

2) Target has a couple of fantastic deals this week. You can get SoBe LifeWater free after coupons and a Target gift card and also Eggo BakeShop products for better than free after coupons and a mail-in rebate!

If you're the type to be annoyed by the ever earlier appearance of holidays, you're going to really hate this: Christmas Lane (beware: there's Christmas music that autoplays) at Sears and Kmart, an online holiday shop. Open now.

That's right. Sears Holdings (Kmart's parent company) is promoting and selling gifts and decorations in the heat of summer. But is this Christmas "creep" of the highest order or smart marketing?

There's a reason why the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It's the traditional start of the winter holiday shopping season, and the day when retailers expect to move from red to black -- from losing money to being profitable.

Not all retailers lose money the remaining 10 months of the year. But for those that are struggling, the holidays are do or die. And Sears and Kmart are struggling.