Don't Kill Yourself On Black Friday.

With the start of the Holiday Shopping Season just two weeks away try not to kill anybody this year.

Last year an unruly crowd trampled a worker to death at a Wal-Mart store and the nation's retailers are preparing for yet another Black Friday. For those who don't know what Black Friday is, it's the day after Thanksgiving and is considered the start of the holiday shopping season. This year stores are planning new safety measures to help ensure the biggest shopping day of the year does not take another deadly turn.

Bargain hunting shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y. trampled a temporary worker who died soon afterward last year.

This year Wal-Mart has a new plan. The biggest change this year is that the majority of its stores will open Thanksgiving morning at 6 a.m. and stay open through Friday evening. In previous years the stores closed Thanksgiving evening and reopened early Friday morning. With the stores staying open for 24 hours Wal- Mart is hoping for steady flow of customers rather than massive crowds stampeding the front doors when the stores open.

Also, at Wal-Mart this year you will no longer have to make the mad dash towards the pile of flat screen TVs and get into a brawl with other shoppers to get one. This year shoppers will be able to line up in a first come first served basis for the must have items. Employees will be supervising the lines, giving the merchandise to the customers in the order they got in line until the item is out of stock.

For the first time the National Retail Federation has created a set of guidelines for crowd control at stores. The guidelines note that special markdowns and historically low discounts lead to bigger crowds.

Target is planning their own special markdowns in the form of $3 toasters and coffeemakers, steep sales on high definition televisions, and discounts up to 50% on clothes and toys.

This was leaked early today by Brad Olson, founder of Gottadeal.com, the Web site markets itself as one of the "official" Black Friday deal sites. Olson reported that he received a copy of the discount retailer's ad.

Most retailers keep things tight lipped about their Black Friday sales until the week before.

Olson's site tracks Black Friday deals for the fore mentioned Wal-Mart, Target Sears, and other chain stores. He has been doing this for the past six years and says Target's deals look pretty "aggressive" this year.

Black Friday begins the process of putting stores back in the black as it accounts for 50% of retailers profits for the two month period of November-December.

It is ironic that Black Friday puts retailers in black and consumers more in debt and in the red. Remember to buy only what you can afford, but by the sound of these deals you may be able to pull off an awesome holiday season rather inexpensively.