Wal-Mart Set to Kick Off Holiday Sales

New York City Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is holding special holiday in-store sales as early as this Saturday, according to its Web site. The sale will begin at 8 a.m.

The company, which held similar sales leading up to the holidays last year, said that it expects its shoppers to begin their gift-buying earlier this year to stretch limited budgets.

Wal-Mart had already started cutting prices on popular toys to attract cash-strapped shoppers looking for bargains.

Last year in early November, the company began offering the type of holiday discounts it usually reserved for "Black Friday.”