Lowe’s, Sears unveil Black Friday ads

Hoping to get a jump on holiday sales, Lowe’s and Sears are advertising their Black Friday promotions on their Web sites.

Lowe’s posted their “door busters” last Friday, three weeks before the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving specials. The home improvement retailer is offering a 14-gallon shop vac for $29; Skil’s 18- volt, 4-tool combo kit for $59; a 6.5-ft. pre-lit Christmas tree for $38; a Rival crockpot for $9.99; and DeWalt 18-volt 1/2-in. cordless drill for $99. Prices are good from Nov. 26 to 30.

Sears is taking a different approach: every Wednesday, the discount retailer is posting the items that will go on sale the following Saturday. In a current TV commercial, a Sears sales associate tells two shoppers not to wait until the day after Thanksgiving for bargains.

“We have great Black Friday door busters every Saturday,” she explains. So far, promotional items have included a KitchenAid 4.5-quart stand mixer for $149.99 (after rebate) and a Kenmore high efficiency washer-dryer pair for $579.88. The specials run 7 a.m. until noon.