The time is almost near for shoppers to take advantage of Black Friday, which has seemed to start earlier and earlier with each passing year. However, there have been a handful of retailers who are known to offer pre-midnight deals in order to open up late on Thanksgiving evening. Case in point is Walmart, who announced on Thursday that it would be launching their Black Friday deals at 8 p.m. on the respective holiday, the earliest the store has ever opened their doors for the event. 

While some of the other large retail stores have yet to announce when they'll open for the event, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if some of them do reveal similar hours for the sake of competition.

Walmart's announcement also specified a slew of bargains, which include an LG Blu-ray player for $38, an Emerson 32-inch TV for $148 and an Apple iPad 2 along with a $75 Walmart gift card for $399, amongst other steals.  Other notable deals include the Nintendo Wii for just $89 and a six-quart Crock Pot for below $10.

Although such specialty sale items are typically limited in quantity, Walmart has gone on the record to say that the respective products should last for all of the shoppers at least until 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

While Black Friday's earlier start at the store could potentially irk some of the more traditional shoppers, it will allow consumers to take advantage of deals and also make it to bed at a decent hour. 

On the employee side of the spender festivities, many Walmart workers will have to now have to give their services on Thanksgiving, which will give them less time with their families on the respective holiday. This may not serve well for the company as they already have a fair share of disgruntled employees threatening to walk off the job due to working-related  conditions.

Tags: Black Friday 2012 offbeat