I normally follow fashion but I also love being "in the know" when it comes to the hottest, must-have gifts for kids (I'm a newlywed and not a mom yet, but I adore the many munchkins in my life). 
 
This year I heard that Zhu Zhu hamsters are one of the most sought after toys this season.  This info comes straight from a trusted source with a tiny tyke.  With hundreds of thousands of Zhu Zhus arriving in our stores over the next few weeks, Walmart is a good place to look for them.  Who knew faux fur would be in fashion this year? And at only $8.00.  In addition to these little hamsters, the little ones on my list are getting princess tees and tiaras from the new Disney movie The Princess and the Frog, and of course, Elmo Hands.  What do your favorite kids want most?

Wow, wow, WOW! Walmart today announced an entire Thanksgiving weekend jam-packed with great products and prices. So exciting!

Check out the full advertisement online at Walmart.com. And remember, it isn't only about the day-after-Thanksgiving early morning deals; we have a whole weekend of events and special offers to help shoppers save even more.

Kicking off the weekend events is Walmart.com. On Thanksgiving Day, Walmart.com will offer nearly 50 online-only specials with savings up to 40 percent on many of the season’s top gifts. All are available for free shipping with Site to Store. I have a sneak peek into some of the products and prices that have already been confirmed, and they include Philips Noise Canceling Headphones for under $20 and the Garmin Nuvi 205 GPS for less than $100. I want both, so if you’re listening, Santa, take notes!

After I get those items at Walmart.com on Thursday, it’s enjoying Thanksgiving Day with lots of eating and football and family. Alas, I can’t stay up too late playing card games and reminiscing. I need my rest so I can get to the Walmart store early on Friday for the stuff I want during the 5-11 a.m. event.

On my list so far from the 5-11 a.m. store event is a Canopy 600-thread-count-sheet set for $24, a Magnavox Blu-Ray disc player for just $78, and maybe an Emerson 42-inch Plasma for $448. I haven't decided yet if I want the Emerson or if I want to instead get one of the Samsung HDTVs available during a special Saturday event. There is a Samsung 46” 1080P LCD HDTV for $848 at Walmart stores on Saturday that I’d love to have in my living room! I just got cable for the first time (and yes, I mean the first time ever in my life, so go ahead and lift up your jaw if it dropped) a few months ago, and I already feel the need for a bigger, better television. I wouldn’t want these great brands and prices to pass me by. We shall see what ends up in my cart.

I’m also jazzed that this year I can go to Walmart.com and download a store map that shows exactly where the products I want will be on Friday morning. It will make planning easier.

There are some great all-day Friday deals that I want to pick up for gifts, like the DVD of Star Trek and GI Joe for only $9, the Kodak Wireless AIO Printer for $99, and a $50 Brother sewing machine. Okay, so maybe, just maybe, one or two of those may be gifts for me too!

Whew. After seeing it in writing, I realize that’s a lot of shopping. Money well spent though, considering the dollars I’ll save by taking advantage of the special pricing.

What’s on your “must get” list for the weekend?

Happy shopping, all, and have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

One of my favorite holiday traditions is hanging out with my family and watching our favorite new movies as well as some of the oldies but goodies.  We like to watch both action and comedy movies. My mom and I like the chick flicks that bring us to tears, so we try to watch those alone so my three brothers don’t make fun of us for being softies! 

This year I hope that those of you similar to me and my family jump into high def with some of the great values we have on Blu-ray players. Wondering how to pick the right one? Well, here are my thoughts on this week’s deals--hope it helps you choose!

Of course the day-after Thanksgiving event on the Magnavox Blu-ray Player at $78 is great for those families who are only looking for the picture and sound enhancement that Blu-ray offers. It’s really for those just looking to jump into Blu-ray for the first time and we’re excited to have such a great price to help save them money on their investment in family time!

The Sony Blu-ray Player offers all the same stuff, but tacks on BD-Live content to be delivered to the player via the internet.  (This content hasn’t been that exciting yet but has lots of potential like games, interactive chatting, etc, with new movies coming out.) It also makes it much easier for the upgrades to be delivered to the player, which happens usually a couple times a year. Actually, this player will be $118 for the day-after Thanksgiving event, instead of $148 which is what is in our printed ad, so it’s a super bonus for our customers! This makes it the best value in my mind for a new Blu-ray customer.

Finally, if you’re looking for a player that has all the bells and whistles I suggest the Samsung Blu-ray player at $148, available at that price during this Saturday’s in store event. It has all the same features of the Sony player but adds the streaming content from Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and Blockbuster. So whether you want to watch a movie, stream a movie, or jam out to some music, this player can do it!

I know my holiday is going to be experienced in high def, is yours? 

The holiday season has begun. Decorations are up in stores, Starbucks is selling their Gingerbread Lattes (My Fav) and even Santa is out at the malls making early appearances.

As for Walmart.com we got allot of things going on this Holiday Season.  Value of the day is running now, this week we also have Value Bundles and most importantly you can get Over 9,000+ Electronics items shipped to your home for $0.97. Look for items with these logo's below:

That means the hottest gifts as TV, Laptops, Netbooks, iPods, Digital Cameras, GPS, Blu-Ray Players and more for only $0.97. Want to save more, no problem! We have over 8,000+ Electronics items that ship FREE with Site to Store . Look for items with this logo below:

How much of your Holiday Shopping will be done ONLINE this year?

-Paully

 About a month ago in my post about our new Straight Talk wireless program, I had touched on our desire to deliver savings to our customers that drives many of the initiatives we develop.  Not simply to save money but to deliver value on the brands and services that Americans want most.  We know that most of our customers are having to watch the checkbooks closely, so giving them brand they want at unbeatable prices is the challenge that keeps us working hard here on the Walmart Wireless team.  

Even amidst the tough economy, a major trend that has emerged is the growth of the smart phone segment of wireless phones.  While the new Android devices and the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G S series have certainly done their part to add new customers, the number one brand remains BlackBerry.  Because of this demand, Walmart currently carries over a dozen unique BlackBerry devices at prices ranging from $0.00 to roughly $150 across all four national carriers.

Based upon the two corollaries above (Customers want to save money and Customers want BlackBerry phones), I am happy to announce that beginning this Saturday for one week only every customer that purchases a BlackBerry phone with a two year contract will receive a $100 Walmart Gift Card.  The $100 Gift Card is on top of our already aggressive prices and is available with New Contracts, Family Plan Add-a-Lines, and Qualified Upgrades.  For more details on the offer visit: http://www.walmart.com/holidaysavings.