Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Reconfiguring Retail Patterns

I'm finding myself in a pattern of shifting retail practices. This came about for a lot of reasons:
  1. My Target has fresh produce and meats now! Not only that, but many of their prices are the same or lower than Giant's "sale" prices. Needless to be say, I will be scrutinizing the Target matchups at the likes of Money Saving Mom a lot more closely to see if I can score some deals. I also like the "two birds, one stone" offerings of a big box store with fresh groceries - whereas if I hit Giant and Target separately (as in the past), I'd be likelier to spend more.

  2. My daughter has outgrown the baby/toddler section of the Children's Place. The Children's Place used to be my one-stop-shop for my three-year-old's clothes. But now that she has outgrown the toddler sizes at the Children's Place and is moving into the little girls' section, I'm noticing that the deals on staples (such as their denim) are not so great for the preschooler set and up! (I used to put a 15% coupon on a $5 clearanced toddler pair...but I have yet to see jeans in size 4 and up hit that low of a clearance price at CP.)

    I must regroup and seek deals elsewhere - though I do not want to sacrifice too much on quality since I have a baby daughter who will be coming right into the same set clothes in just a couple of years, and am hoping to reuse as much of that wardrobe as possible!

    My top pics of late have been the clearance racks at TJMaxx and Target, but I'm open to suggestions from fellow bloggers and readers! Ideally, I shoot for $5 or less on pants and sweaters and $3-4 or less on shirts (especially summer T-shirts).

  3. There are two new stores coming to Potomac Mills: a JCrew and a Victoria's Secret! OK, this one is purely me-oriented. But seeing those "Coming Soon" signs really got me excited! I wonder if you can redeem those frequently-issued Victorias Secret freebie coupons (for lip gloss, undies, etc.) at the outlet locations. Anybody care to enlighten us!?! Victoria's Secret is scheduled to arrive in May.

    Back in my college days, I was near a JCrew outlet, and it was the only time in my life when I considered JCrew clothes' prices within reason for my budget. I am crossing my fingers that the coming outlet will do similar prices (just a few bucks for tank tops, etc.). I may put a hold on my wardrobe purchases until this JCrew outlet opens just so I can see what the offerings are. JCrew is scheduled to arrive in June.

    (And for the electronics afficionados, a Bose outlet store just opened in April, too!)

  4. I just discovered camelcamelcamel this week, thanks to Baby Cheapskate. I can now track the Amazon prices on my favorite items in the long term and scoop them up when they dip temporarily. Anticipate potentially being able to publicize some of these these dips on Redemption Unlimited as well!

  5. A little bonus item, though not retail, still very newsworthy - at least in my world. :)
    There is a German beer hall opening up in the downtown area soon! Apparently supposed to be very authentic. Me + authentic German food = one very happy girl. (Goulaschsuppe, Knoedel, Sauerkraut, Spaetzle, Jaegerschnitzel, Weißer Spargel...need I elaborate?!) I plan on investigating with my husband once a sitter can be arranged. In the meantime, if anybody finds coupons to Biergarten Haus, alert me, please.
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Ebates and Swagbucks are both easy ways to earn rewards while doing what you normally do - web-searching through Google and shopping for bargains online!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post and I enjoyed the update on some new outlet stores coming to our area!

Plus I love hearing that you are a fan of German food! Das ist wunderbar! There are some good German restaurants in the NoVa/DC area... I tried Dönner Bistro in Leesburg recently and many years ago tried Euro Bistro in Reston, Old Europe in DC and Cafe Mozart in DC. Whenever I drive down to Charlottesville, VA it always a treat to stop by The Bavarian Chef in Madison. Their food is soooo good. Wow, I just learned that Bavarian Chef is opening a second location in Fredericksburg, VA in a few weeks.... yum. and closer! Don't mind me as I start doing a Schuhplattler Tanz around the room :-)

Gina @ MoneywiseMoms said...

My girls are into 4T and 4s, and I'm still doing well at The Children's Place outlet using the 15% off coupon. They have fantastic sales and I can do tops and more for $1.99-$3, so it evens out paying a little more for denim. Also-try Old Navy with sales and coupons.

Redemption Unlimited Girls said...

My daughter's 4T Children's Place jeans are dangerously bordering on highwater right now - ergo any jeans I buy for fall must be larger (and in fact I may eek out fall 2010 with 5Ts unless she hits a major growth spurt - but on top she's a little girls' XS, size 4). The few times I've checked the little girls/big girls jeans, they've been well over $10 pre-coupon - but I'm not going to give up on CP just yet. Just trying to branch out to see if there are any other deals to be had on wardrobe staples in the little girls' clothing market.

Redemption Unlimited Girls said...

Thanks for the German restaurant links!!! I also LURRRV the Heidleberg Bakery in Arlington - takes me back! (*drool*)

Sarah AKA The Thriftress said...

I do a lot of shopping for my kids at Gymboree. I shop for the clearance rack for the next year's clothes and always use a 20% off Q. I like to do this especially when you earn Gymbucks. It's like getting 50% off next time you shop. There prices are outrageous but the clearance can be awesome and the quality is super. I usually visit 2-3 stores and I always check the online clearance as well. You can usually get at 20% off code at retailmenot.com. Also the CP online clearance has had items for .99 at the end of the season and then I use the 20% off as well. I know it's not totally helpful for clothes you need NOW but if you buy the "Spring" line jeans for the Fall or Winter you can get em pretty cheap.
HTH
Sarah