A report out of the WSJ confirms that Wal-Mart will stock the Apple iPad beginning on Friday. The retail giant will offer all six models of the iPad and will roll out the tablet devices to over 2,300 stores by mid-November. The discount retailer will be selling the tablet device at its full retail price with the 16GB WiFi-only model retailing for $499. Customers accustomed to the competitive prices of Wal-Mart may be disappointed by this pricing but that is the trade-off of being able to pick up some clothes, a box of band-aids, and an iPad in a single shopping trip.

Apple’s popular tablet device will be available in both brick and mortar retail stores and online from Wal-Mart’s website. All online orders will be delivered to stores and not residences, a restriction that is present on all Apple devices being sold by the retail giant. The iPad will be front and center in display cases within the store and several over-enthusiastic stores have setup these displays a bit too early, leading to a rash of “in the wild” shots of the iPad over the weekend.

Wal-Mart joins a growing list of retailers selling the iPad during the upcoming holiday shopping season. Best Buy and Target are selling the tablet in stores and both retailers are ramping up for holiday shopping season.While Wal-Mart is a bit late to the game, the Bentonville, Ark. company plans to make up for its delay with volume and its entrance into the growing tablet market may throw a monkey wrench into Target’s and Best Buy’s carefully laid holiday plans. Wal-Mart is larger than either Best Buy or Target and is developing a reputation as an electronics retailer. Would you buy an iPad if you were casually shopping at Wal-Mart and saw one on display? Know of anyone who would?