Walmart's Black Friday 2012 Will Start at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving

That's the earliest the nation's biggest retailer has ever opened for Black Friday. So far, Walmart is only being matched this year by Sears (SHLD), which also announced an 8 p.m. Thursday opening in its circular. However, some other major chains have yet to announce their Black Friday plans, so we wouldn't be surprised to see some of Walmart's other competitors announce similar hours in the name of keeping up with the Waltons.

The 8 p.m. opening is probably not so early that it will interfere with anyone's traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but early enough to preempt another Thanksgiving custom: Watching football. While the day's earlier games in Detroit and Dallas won't lose viewers to the sales, the traditional post-dinner evening game -- this year, a matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Jets -- kicks off at 8:30 p.m. And that means, in some households, gathering around the TV in a post-turkey daze will be replaced by lining up at the local Walmart to grab the best deals.