Community

Morning everyone. I am proud to report that Stone Soup DC now gets around 150-200 hits a day. Very cool.

I am glad people are finding the information useful, at least I hope you are. I believe one of the best resources anywhere and anytime, is community. We can make this resource so much more powerful if we pull together our information and ideas. Anything from what’s on sale this week, to a great store you’ve found, to free/cheap community events, to how to make something yourself that you would have previously purchased. That’s what we all want to hear. I am sure each one of you has ideas to add. Please consider joining the Yahoo discussion group, posting a comment on the blog, or even sending me an email at stonesoupdc@gmail.com. I want to hear from you!

Have you all heard the story of Stone Soup? I’ve added some stones. Anyone out there have some cabbage or carrots or an onion?

Weschler’s Auctions

Most of of us probably need less stuff rather than more, but I couldn’t help posting a link to the story in today’s WP about Weschler’s Auctions in DC. Keep me away from there. I could spend a fortune on “bargains”. Sounds like sooo much fun though, and if you really *need* a new victorian lamp, a box of old LPs, or some more furniture for your place, you’ll find bargains at Weschler’s. My weakness is for old postcards. I have several thousand already, at least they’re small.

Though, this week they almost sucked me in with the Heywood-Wakefield furniture. I am an Atomic Ranch junkie.

What’s your favorite outlet?

Between Arundel Mills, Potomac Mills, and Leesburg Corner, our region has hundreds of "outlets" for all kinds of items. Some are true outlets that receive discounted, overstocked, or returned items. Other companies have so many "outlet" stores that they've had to develop secondary "factory store" lines to make sure the stores stay filled. Whenever I go into a Gap outlet, I check the labels to make sure I know if I am looking at a "factory store" item or an item that came from a first-quality Gap store. Not that the "factory store" item can't be a good buy, but I find the quality of the items that have come from the actual Gap stores to be better in general.

The question is, which outlets do you tend to find reliable bargains at with every visit? Do you prefer one of the outlet malls over another?

I've actually been trying to stay out of the stores all together lately. I find that's the easiest way to save money. So I don't have many specific bargains to point to from recent buys, but I have found these outlets to pretty reliable when I stop in for something:

Talbots Outlet ( 6825 Bland Street, Springfield, VA): This is my favorite oulet for women's clothing. It's in a plain looking strip center near the interchange of I-95 and Franconia Rd. Talbot's quality is excellent and I find it a great place to shop for everything from casual to dressy. Prices are often very discounted, more like 50% to 75% off. They also carry some children's clothes, larger women's sizes and some men's items. My husband got his favorite cashmere sweater there. Originally $200, he paid $42.

Nordstrom Rack (15760 Shady Grove Road, Gaithersburg, MD, Potomac Mills, Dulles Town Crossing): For shoes…what more needs to be said? I have found less clothing there that I've been happy with in the last few years, prefering Talbots, but they do have a lot to look through, though. I've found good baby clothes bargains there, too.

JC Penney (Potomac Mills): I've had very good luck at the JCPenney outlet for simple summer shirts and shorts. They have a lot of stuff in their outlet and most of it is heavily marked down.

Little Me (Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets): This outlet for baby clothes has some adorable outfits and I love their thick sleepers for winter time. The outlet prices are not dirt cheap, but they are better than the department store sales I've seen and the clothes hold up very well. They also have some cute boy's clothes beyond trucks and sports themes, which I was getting quite tired of for my son.

Carter's (All three outlet centers): If you need sleepers, onesies and comfy baby play clothes, Carter's outlets usually have good sales and a good selection. If you sign up for their mailings, they'll often send very good coupons. Plus they have a very good return policy (it's like 6 months or even longer, sorry I couldn't find the exact policy on-line).

Osh Kosh (All three outlet centers): If you hit the Osh Kosh Outlet when a sale it going on, you can find tremendous bargains. I bought a couple pairs of overalls for more than 70% off. Osh Kosh overalls never seem to wear out.

Stride Rite Outlet (All three outlet center): Great prices on shoes, especially for kids. You can often get two pairs for the price of one.

Crate and Barrel Outlet (1700 Prince Street Alexandria, VA & Leesburg Corner): Great for gifts or picking up a new set of glasses or dishes. Their prices are often quite good.

So what are your favorite outlets? What are the best deals you've found? Please, do tell…

Looking for Furniture?

I haven't had a chance to visit this place personally, yet. I am kind of glad it's a little bit of a drive or I'd be tempted to stop in nearly every week. C-Mart is a huge store in Joppatowne, MD, just north of Baltimore, that purchases lots of mid-price to exclusive, boutique brand furniture, designer fashions, appliances, and housewares among other things.

The merchandise varies weekly, but their stock is well known for excellent deals on good quality furniture at 50%-90% off. I signed up for their weekly email a few months ago when we were considering a new leather sectional for our living room.  The weekly email and the C-Mart web site show extensive pictures of each shipment, particularly for furniture, so you can do some serious armchair shopping from home to see if the store is worth the drive that week.

We eventually decided to live without the upgrade for now, but even in the few weeks I was watching closely, I saw a couple of shipments of furniture go through the site that had the modern style we were looking for. I defintely would have taken a trip to check them out had I not been afraid I would have returned home with something!