We never thought we'd get nostalgic about the days when people trampled each other for Black Friday deals at 5:00 in the morning.  Now, any store that opens up THAT late is a dinosaur.  Last year, Walmart threw down the Black Friday gauntlet and opened up at 10:00 P.M. on Thanksgiving.  Toys "R" Us responded by opening at 9:00 P.M.  And other stores like Best Buy, Target, and Macy's decided to open at midnight.

And this year, Walmart's already decided to push things EVEN EARLIER.  For this year's Black Friday, they'll be opening up and offering their discounts at 8:00 P.M. on Thanksgiving.  That's four hours before Friday even begins.  Not included in that decision?  Walmart employees, who'll have to skip Thanksgiving dinner with their families so they can go make $9 an hour trying to keep people from killing each other to save $20 on a Blu-ray player.

Last year, Black Friday was the biggest day in U.S. retail sales history.  Sales were up a massive 6.6%, and at least $11.4 BILLION worth of merchandise was sold.

(Yahoo News)