Marple Walmart Gears Up for Black Friday Shopping

SPRINGFIELD–'s new at the Marple Crossroads Shopping Center in Springfield will hold its first-ever Black Friday sales on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, at 10 p.m. and then at 12 a.m. on Friday morning and again at 8 a.m.

The store, which was recently approved by Marple's Zoning Hearing Board, will be open for 24 hours during the Thanksgiving holiday to give shoppers an opportunity to shop early on Black Friday this year. The store's general hours are from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Once the approval was made, Anthony Deni, Marple Walmart's store manager, said associates were excitedly volunteering to work during the overnight hours for the big sales event.

"We're all jazzed," said Deni. "When we got the 24-hour approval, associates were volunteering to work during the event. They want to be here for the customers."

A series of three, timed sales events will occur starting the evening of Thanksgiving Day. At 10 p.m. on Thursday, in addition to toys, clothing and other seasonal items, some of the hot-ticket items that will go on sale are videogame consoles–XBox 360, 4GB for $199 with a $50 gift card when purchased; PS3 for $199.96 with two videogames when purchased; and the limited edition blue Wii for $99.96.

At 12 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, several of the hot-ticket items on sale will include bigger electronics such as flat-screen TVs, laptops and the Amazon Kindle Fire for $199. At 8 a.m., on Friday, additional electronics and smartphones as well as tires and hunting gear will be some of the hot-ticket items that will go on sale.

Deni said employees at the location have been preparing for the big event for weeks. In the past couple of weeks, Deni said, "We've seen an extra two trucks in the last week and two extra this week in anticipation of the event."

In his previous experience, Deni said he's seen customers wait in line about three to four hours before doors officially opened for the big sale.

"People may start coming in here anywhere from 6 to 7 p.m. but they can come in earlier," said Deni. "We have procedures in place for waiting in line."

According to Deni, the store will have 13 queue lines where shoppers will be able to wait in line for specific hot-ticket items in which only one hot-ticket item will be allowed per customer.

Deni said 50 extra associates will be on site during the Black Friday sales for crowd management and have been specifically trained for crowd management. In addition, will also be on site to help with crowd management in the parking lot.

View all of Walmart's Black Friday sales here. The store will also provide their sales map to shoppers but to get your own copy beforehand, click here. From now through Dec. 25, Walmart will offer a "Christmas Price Garauntee." If a customer buys an eligible product at Walmart and finds that same product advertised for less at another store, Walmart will give the customer a gift card for the difference through Dec. 25.

For more information, visit www.walmart.com.