Are You Brave Enough for Black Friday?

The biggest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, also known as "Black Friday, " is a day that many people look forward to and plan their shopping trip accordingly. They map out the deals and compare them with the opening times of the stores so they can go from store to store and snag up those great deals. Here is a list of either places to shop or places to stay away from on Friday.

For electronic toys and other entertainment, visit the Best Buy on N. Perryville Road for some great deals. For the gamers in your family, they are offering a great deal on a PlayStation 3 system with a controller and two games for a great price of $299.99. Also for the gamer, check out their selection of Nintendo Wii games for only $9.99. For the music lover, pick up one of their select CD's for $6.99 and get a FREE $5.00 napster card with any CD purchase; or purchase a set of 3 $10.00 I-tunes gift cards for $25.00, a savings of $5.00. If you have a tendency to get lost while on the road, you may want to consider purchasing a Garmin GPS for the low price of $99.99. Their sale hours are 5:00am to 12:00pm.

Target has some great deals on electronics as well. They are offering a 32 inch flat screen tv for $246.00. They are also including the popular Garmin NUVI GPS in their sale for $179.99. Another electronics deal is the RCA portable DVD player for $47.00, or if you need more than one, you may want to purchase the Dual screen style for $88.00. If you have a gamer on your gift list, consider the Wii special -- $10.00 Target gift card with purchase of select games, or the video rocker extreme for $29.98. Not only are their electronics on sale, but also they are offering great deals on their toys. You may purchase the radio control Hummer for $12.49 or the Disney Musical vanity for $49.99. For the young learner, you may want to consider the Leapfrog first computer for $19.99. Many kids will love the folding scooter for $17.00. One of their best deals is the Dyson Absolute Animal Vacuum, which is great on animal hair, for the low price of $349.99. As an incentive to shop in their store, with a $100.00 purchase, they will give you a FREE $10.00 gift card. Target has two locations nearby. The Target Greatland is located on E. State St., and the other is located on Hwy 173 in Machesney Park. Their sale hours are 5:00am to 12:00pm.

Check out the deals at every kid's favorite place, the place where "a kid can be a kid"--Toys R. Us.
They are having a pre-sale starting at Midnight on Thursday and ending at 12:00pm. In the early sale, you can find the ever popular FUR REAL Smores Pony for $99.99. Also in that sale is the Leapfrog Leapster Systems for $29.99 and the V-tech Learning Laptop for just $14.99. During the 5:00am sale, you may want to consider the Harley Davidson rocker ride-on for $99.99, for the more active tots on your gift list. For the gamer, they are offering their Wii fit acessories 50% off, Xbox 360 wired guitar hero game controller for $9.99, and the guitar hero 2 pack for $29.99. The popular BAKUGAN bakubowl is available for $13.49. Your local Toys R Us store is located on E. State St. in Rockford.

For a more upscale shopping experience, try the Black Friday sale at Kohls. Rockford has two locations -one on E. State St., and one on Hwy. 173 in Machesney Park. They are open at 4:00 am and their Early Bird sale ends at 1:00pm. This year they are offering,in their jewelry department, watches as low as $8.99, 1ctw diamond earrings for $1,199.99, 1/2 ctw diamond rings for $269.99, and men's bands for $71.99. If you are looking for electronic toys for your youngster, they have the V-tecn nitro notebook Jr. for $29.99 and the Leapster L-Max system for $39.99. Not only those, but the Leapfrog Tag reading system for $29.99 and many other Leapfrog toys for $9.99. For the lovely ladies on your list, you may choose from select fine fragrances at 15% off regular prices as well as 20% off all Holiday fragrance gift sets. For Christmas dinner, she may want the Oneida 61 piece dinnerware set for just $39.99 and the Oneida 85 piece flatware set for only $47.99 or maybe the new Full to King size bedding for the low price of $14.99. To top all these great items, Kohls is also offering $10.00 in Kohls cash for every $50.00 spent in their stores.

Last but not least, Wal-mart. Wal-mart is known for its low prices and great Black Friday deals. This year they are offering the Nintendo DS Lite portable gaming system for a low $98.00 as well as the Xbox 360 arcade console with bonus for $199.00, and the Rockband for xbox 360 or playstation 3 for $50.00. For fun next Summer, you may want to consider the 14' trampoline and enclosure set for $170.00 or the NEXT Mountain bike for $49.00. What great pictures you could take with the Kodak 12 megapixel digital camera for $69.00. To save those great pictures and other computer information, purchase the Western Digital 320gb external hard drive for $49.00 and the Sandisk 4gb flash drive for only $8.00. For the music lover, pick up the 8gb Ipod touch for $195.00 + the bonus $50.00 itunes gift card. For the children on your gift list, check out the twin comforter and sham sets or the small table and 2 chair set for $18.00. It is always nice for everyone to get a new pair of pajamas for Christmas. These you can find here for $3.00 in kids sizes and $5.00 for adult sizes. For the cold Winter fhat is sure to come eventually, you can find snow boots for only $7.00. You can visit Wal-mart at three Rockford locations, E. State St., W. Riverside, and Northridge (E. Riverside) Drive. All stores are open 24 hours, but the sales don't officially start until 5:00am.

Go out and "shop til you drop".