Wal-Mart (WMT 1.00%) announced its "Black Friday" hoopla today, revealing that the sales will kick off at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night, Nov. 22, two hours earlier than last year.

The megaretailer says it has stocked up and is going so far as to guarantee that shoppers "inside the store and in the queue line" between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time Nov. 22 will get special deals on three popular electronic items:

  • The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad 16GB with Wi-Fi for $399, which comes with a $75 Wal-Mart gift card.
  • An Emerson (NYSE: EMR) 32" 720p LCD TV for $148.
  • An LG Blu-ray player for $38.

If the items sell out in that hour, Wal-Mart will issue a "guarantee card;" one guarantee card per customer, per item.

Wal-Mart is also touting its "ad match guarantee" and breaking the "Black Friday" sales into three events this year.

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