Black Friday Guide - Howard County

Check out Black Friday sales at major retailers and small businesses around the county.

Black Friday Guide - Howard County

Check out Black Friday sales at major retailers and small businesses around the county.

A Shop 'Til You Drop 2012 Holiday Season

Early Thanksgiving means more shopping time.

While you may just be putting the Halloween decorations away, retailers are already getting out the Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa candleholders, prepping for the longest holiday shopping season possible. For decades, now, Black Friday has heralded the start to the month-long holiday shopping season. Thanksgiving, celebrated the fourth Thursday in November since 1941 when Congress passed a law, falls on Nov. 22 this year, which means that there are a whopping 32 days of shopping, assuming you are not the type who buys gifts of lottery tickets and beef jerky from the convenience store on the way to your Christmas celebration. In that case, you have 32 days during which to procrastinate. According to the National Retail …

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Black Friday Guide - Howard County

Check out Black Friday sales at major retailers and small businesses around the county.

  Black Friday can be a tortorous event. On the one hand there are (occasionally dangerous) crowds at major retailers and outlets, but at the same time there are some great sales. This year, many large retailers such as Target and Walmart are opening on Thanksgiving evening, giving early bird shoppers the opportunity to shop until they drop—quite literally if they've had enough turkey. In addition, many local small businesses will be offering sales on their products. Below, we've compiled a list of local major retailers and small businesses that are offering Black Friday sales around Howard County on Nov. 23. For the big shops, you can click on the link in their name to view their full Black Friday flyers. Patch will continue to update …

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Maryland Walmart Workers to Join Black Friday Strike

Employees of the retail giant hope to take advantage of one of the year's busiest shopping days.

Employees of Walmart and Sam's Club locations across Maryland are joining a national strike effort this Black Friday to protest what they view as low wages, poor scheduling practices, and worker intimidation on the part of the retail giant. The campaign, organized by Making Change at Walmart and linked with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, is planning demonstrations outside dozens of stores nationwide on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. In Maryland, Nov. 23 protests are scheduled for Walmart and Sam's Club locations in Laurel, Hyattsville, Bowie, Gaithersburg, Woodlawn, Severn, Clinton, Abingdon, Alexandria, and Fairfax. (Both chains are owned by parent company Walmart Stores, Inc.) Organizers are …

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Shopping Commences! Black Friday Deals Draw Crowds

Shoppers flocked to The Mall in Columbia.

Macy's at The Mall in Columbia, a major shopping attraction in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore suburbs, attracted hundreds of bargain hunters who lined up for deals on jewelry, clothing, luggage and other goods Thanksgiving night. The store was set to open at midnight in what some have called an encroachment on Thanksgiving's spirit of family togetherness. Others say they welcome not having to get up for 5 a.m. doorbusters.

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