With Memorial Day weekend rapidly approaching, retailers have started rolling out a rash of early sales turning the last half of May into an extended Memorial themed sale holiday. In years past, Memorial Day has traditionally served up the best sales since the start of the year. However, many of these sales are meant to capture the attention of casual shoppers, not necessarily deal hunters.

While it’s obviously not going to be Black Friday quality in terms of the average discount percentage, you will see some discounts on big-screen HDTVs and Dell Inspiron laptops and desktops as well as a significant increase in apparel discounts. As we pointed out in our what to buy in May article, apparel is usually a minimum of 50% off and can be improved with special Memorial Day sale coupons.

However, we aren’t just going to provide you with a few quips about what product categories you should buy right now or wait to buy in a few months. Our veteran deal editors have started analyzing each Memorial Day sale in order to evaluate the quality. We don’t want you to spend your limited free time shopping when you could be relaxing in the sun!

When we evaluate a sale, we are approaching it with two questions in mind:

Combined with our expert knowledge on current product prices and our deal history data, we use these two questions to assign each retailer sale a letter grade (A, B, C, D and F). We will also tell you why it’s either excellent or lacking in substance. (We will continue to update these lists as Memorial Day approaches.)

While these grades are specific to the overall quality of the sale, we’ve also cherry picked the best deals from the ads (Graded C or higher) in order to help you focus in on specific products.

[table caption=”2014 Memorial Day Sale Grades” width=”620″ colwidth=”40|10|50″ colalign=”center|center|center”]
Store,Grade,Reasoning

Amazon,B,Regular discounts match sales prior to Memorial Day – however Lightning Deals offer superior discounts. Notable Deals: $56 Grilling Table | $50 Philips iPhone Speaker | $380 ASUS 11.6-inch tablet

Best Buy,C,Sale prices are extremely similar to previous weeks – but includes a couple good discounts on mobile devices. Notable Deals: $99 Samsung S5 with trade-in | $199 Kindle Fire HDX | $199 GoPro HD Hero3

Dell,B,No big splash for the sale but some good TV/gift card bundles as well as laptop and tablet deals. Notable Deals:  $250 Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop | $130 Dell Venue 8 Tablet

Lowe’s,D,Sale prices are actually higher than we’ve seen on Lowe’s deals in the last few months – just 10 to 20% off MSRP.

Macy’s,B,The extra 20% discount on clearance and sale items raises the sale a step above competitors. Notable Deals: 25% off Clearance Items | $199 KitchenAid Mixer | $279 Pillowtop Mattress

Microsoft Store,A,Extremely aggressive sale on Xbox One video games as well as solid laptop deals. Notable Deals: $599 HP ENVY TouchSmart 15 Laptop | $60 Three Xbox One Games

Newegg,B,Nothing truly exceptional. But there’s a multitude of excellent prices on video cards and storage devices. Notable Deals: $35 Hisense Sero 7 Tablet | $60 Laiputuo Car OBDII HUD

Perry Ellis,A,40% off sitewide + a 20% off stackable code matches the best prices all year – particularly on suits. Notable Deals: $101 Textured Suit & Jacket | $22 Solid Linen Pocket Shirt

Puma,B,Extra 30% off all prices that are already discounted up to 60% – Not as good as Black Friday but still excellent. Notable Deal: $35 Puma Redon Move Men’s Shoes

REI,A,Amazing closeouts on apparel at the REI Outlet right now – plus up to 30% off on the main REI site. Notable Deals: 60% off all Patagonia Merrell and Sierra Designs | $47 Merrell Travel Laptop Bag

Walmart,C,Most deals are average with some mild standouts in outdoor and home items as well as HDTVs. Notable Deals: $45 Queen Airbed | $179 14′ X 42″ Swimming Pool | $399 Pathfinder II Swing Set

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Be sure to check back for updates as we get closer to Memorial Day. In addition, be sure to check out the Ben’s deal feed to see the most recent batch of deals from online retailers. You can also set up a deal alert here in order to get informed over email when the price on a product drops to a price you are comfortable with.

What are the best Memorial Day Sales this year?