Q1: This week you are going to tell us about NOT shopping in stores.

Just like we have garage sales, there are many manufacturers or distributors in the city that have an annual or semi-annual “garage sale”. They must clear out their warehouse space in order to make room for the next season’s merchandise Sometimes it pays to wait for a certain time of the year to buy. They sell off samples or liquidated items they are no longer producing, leftovers from last season, seconds or lines that never sold well. Whatever it is, the price is always right.

Q2: What can we expect to find at these warehouses?

The products vary as much as retail varies: Quebec designer fashions, toys, bowling balls, fine china, skin care products, home electronics, Halloween costumes, makeup, crystal, duvets and linens, ladies’ bras, perfume, pianos, perfume, flatware, jeans, golf equipment, chocolates, winter jackets, lingerie and, of course, casual clothes for men and women.

Q3: How do we find out about them?

When you attend the sale, ask if you can be put on a mailing list for future sales. If you can’t make the sale, you can try to leave your name with the receptionist at the company for notification. Some have on-line mailing lists.

Q4: Which ones are happening now?

Canadelle, makers of Wonderbra, Dici, and Dici Nova, has clearance sales offering their bras and undies. Sometimes there’s even a few things for the guys. Profits go the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Dates: Oct 16-18, Oct 23-25. Fri1-8, Sat 9-4, Sun 11-4
Location: 4405 boul. Metropolitan est,  St-Leonard
Phone: 514-376-6240
www.playtexcanada.ca

Krickets is for children’s clothing. If you have young children and like this line, ask to be put on their calling list for the warehouse clearance sales that are held twice a year, in October and April, and last a whole week. Go to kricketsworld.com and then to “Knews” to find out dates of sales or to add yourself to the e-mail list.

Dates: Oct 19-23: 8-5, Sat Oct 24: 8-2
Location: 333 Chabanel ouest, Suite 800
Phone: 514-382-5890
www.kricketsworld.com

La Grande La Grande Braderie de Mode Quebecoise is the sale for the creme de la creme of Quebec designers’ samples and ends of inventory at 50%-80% off. Women, men and children might find lines by: Rudsak, Muse, Mackage, Report Collection, Bodybag, Tavan & Mitto, TXT Carbon Inc, D.E.P.T., Marie Sainte-Pierre, Concubine, Iris, Extenso 14+, Envers, MSiamo, Gaudette Design, Eve Gravel, Colt, Station 8, Julie Bou, Matteo Mio, Myco Anna, Dino Gaspari, OCollection, Barila, JC Rags, Michel Desjardins, Pepin Design, Nenufar, Ivano Homme, Frett Design, Mestiza, Veronique Miljkovitch. Sylvie Germain, Genevieve Dostaler, France Anctil, Blanc Mouton, Pierre Poisson, Rouzanna Design, Dinh Ba Design. Ophelie Hats, Soia & Kyo, Message Factory, Virage, Fluide, Lola, De Shalla design and Creation Ysol.

Dates: Oct- 22-25
Location: Marche Bonsecours 350 St-Paul Est, Old Montreal
Phone: 514-866-2006 x 300
www.braderiedemodequebecoise.com

We have a dearth of places to get any sort of a deal on high quality linens in this city, so when Lawrence a 60-year old local company has its home bedding sale, it’s worth checking out. Expect to find coordinated bedroom ensembles in jacquard, sateens, high end percale sheets, pillowcases,  bedspreads, comforters, decorative cushions, duvet covers and mattress pads. They sell for 50% to 80% off from this season’s regular lines, as well as discounts and closeouts on samples and last year’s goods. Some prices at the sale: sheet sets $25, 4 to 7 piece bedding sets $49, mattress pad enhancers $50. Sign up to be notified of the sales.

Dates: Thurs Oct 29 & Fri Oct 30: 11-7, Sat Oct 31: 9-4
Location: 8655 Delmeade
Corner: Cote de Liesse
Tel: 514-343-3740
www.lawrencehome.com

Marcelle makeup and skin care products were developed for women with sensitive skin. Manufactured and designed in Quebec, the company also produces the Annabelle line. If you would like to buy their discontinued and liquidated goodies, this is the moment for their next warehouse sale as the next one won’t be held until around April.
All Marcelle colors are $2.50, all Annabelle colors are $1.50 and creams or lotions are $8 to $24. It’s a good time to stock up on gifts as gift boxes are usually there.  You can be put on a list for mail or phone calls in order to be notified.

Location: 9200 Cote de Liesse Rd.
Corner: 43rd Ave..
Phone: 800-387-7710
Dates: Thurs & Fri Nov 5 & 6: 4-8, Sat & Sun, Nov 7 & 8: 9-4
www.marcelle.com

Moni is a secret bargain spot tucked away at the rear of the Kute Knit factory. You do have to go up a flight of stairs to check out this spot for children’s (newborn-18) casual clothes, some $5 (even 2-piece outfits) and under and mostly less than $10. New this year are the snowsuits in fashionable designs for only $32-$50.

There are excellent prices on school uniforms: jumpers $18, pants $12-$16, polo shirts $8 and dress shirts $10. Adult fleece jogging sets can be found at only $12

Location: 1000 Beaumont, in rear
Corner: boul. l’Acadie
Phone: 514-273-2544
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-4:30, Sat 9-2

Have you seen those sleek new styles of kitchen stools? Well I’ve found a place where you can buy them for $79 or $89. Warshaw Maison, uprooted from the Main, planted itself facing the Atwater market.

Now it concentrates on kitchen and household items: trays, frames, gadgets, cutting boards, baking dishes, table linens, curtain panels ($6.99 & up), placemats, shower curtains, bathroom accessories, area rugs and runners, fondue burners, candles and some Breville, Saeco and Gaggia espresso machines.

Prices are kept low, since they buy liquidation deals and pass the savings on to you. There is a plant section in the store with oddities like lucky bamboo, money tree and ginkgo biloba.

Location: 145 Atwater
Phone: 514-933-2250
Hours: Regular plus Sun 9-5

Q 1: Though downloading music one song at time has become the way to buy music, there are still people that want to own the CD and many want to keep DVD’s of their favorite movies, is there a way to buy these for less?

For students and others with less disposable income, the cost of CD’s and DVD’s  has become so pricey – at minimum wage, it could take an entire 4-hour shift to buy one. My suggestion – shop the second-hand stores for them.

Q2 : Perhaps, we are a bit lazy, but we don’t really want to run all over town looking for what we want, is there an easy way to do this?

We are lucky in that we have a “CD street”,  Mont-Royale Ave. where a bunch of stores are clustered near each other, so shopping for them is made easier. If one place doesn’t have what you want, ease on down the road to the next one.
The shops start just a bit East of  St. Denis Street and then continue East. These stores also sell DVD’s, some used books, perhaps vinyl records and even some pre-owned computer games.

Q3: What about quality and sound with used CD’s?

Unlike cassettes and vinyl before them, they hold up much better in their second-hand versions.

Q4: Can you give us some names and addresses?

L’Echange, 713 Mont Royal Ave. E at Pontiac St. This shop has been around 33 years and is one of the biggest around. In three aisles you will find deals on the used CD’s and DVD’s (good for jazz, pop, blues, folk, rock, French, classical  also small selection games Xbox, Game Cube and Playstation. There’s  some French books at half price or less.

Marche du Disque, 793 Mont Royal Ave. East at St. Hubert St. Rummage through this store with its 10,000 used CD’s, 700 DVD’s and 4,000 new imports. Collectors across the country head here for the basement, where they can find the biggest selection (perhaps 20,000) of used vinyl, oldies and collector’s items. www.disquesmerite.com

Le Fox Troc, 819 Mont Royal Ave. E St. Hubert St. Neatly displayed alphabetically on two walls, 90% of the store is for CD’s and DVD’s (10% vinyl), with just some French music, pop and world beats as well.

Le Free Son, 1477 Mont Royal Ave Et Fabre St. One long and narrow aisle takes you all along the wall of used CD’s and DVD’s, and the other one takes you back to the front with new CD’s. You’ll find used progressive rock, metal, classic rock and francophone music here. Two CD players are available on which you can check out your selections. www.freesonrock.com

We have fully stocked terrific party stores in Montreal, and these are the shops that turn into Halloween Heaven. Also, every year a company opens up temporary locations for the month to offer you Halloween deals.

For the regular stores, go to Giggles in LaSalle or their temporary shop in Delson or to Party World‘s new location which has an on site party room.

Giggles, 7143 Boul. Newman, LaSalle
Corner: Senkus
Phone: 514-363-9472
October Hours: Mon-Fri 10-9, Sat & Sun 10-5
Temporary location (until Nov 1): Delson Plaza, 35 boul. Georges Gagne
Phone: 450-638-6221
www.giggles.ca

Party World
New location: 188  St. Jacques, Ville St-Pierre
Phone 514-369-2221
Hours: Mon – Wed 10-6, Thurs & Fri 10-7, Sat 9-5

Each Halloween, temporary Halloween stores, open up to answer all of your Halloween needs with 10,000 items including costumes of course but also masks, wigs, make-up, decorations and accessories for adults and for the kiddies.

You could dress up as: Chinese take-out box, Darth Vadar, piratess, Batman, vampire, whoopie cushion, pumpkin and even a toilet. The stores are on the South Shore, Laval and the West Island. If you go to their web site, you can print a $6 coupon. You can hit “other” as you read it here.

Locations: Brossard, 5840 Taschereau  (across the street from last year’s store); Laval, 1990 boul. le Courbusier (corner Boul. Tessier); Longueuil, 2588 ch. Chambly((corner: Jacques Cartier);  Pierrefonds, 4800 boul. St-Jean (across the street from Loblaws); Mail Place Vertu; Repentigny Terrebonne, Carrefour Lachenaie, 250 Montee des Pionniers.

www.halloweenmegavente.com

Dalia warehouse sales always offer great prices. Juice up your Fall  wardrobe with their pretty blouses, tops, sweaters, jackets which are made under the monikers of: Dalia, Katherine Barclay and Renuar. For this invitation only sale the prices are only $10, $20 and up (just a bit).

Location: 225 Chabanel, Suite 315
Corner: Meunier
Date:  Oct 7, 11-3
www.daliacollection.com
www.renuar.com
www.katherinebarclay.com

For the month of October, you can upgrade your gear and game by trading in your used golf equipment towards buying the latest ones.

Clubs – Get an additional 20% off above trade-in value (values by Global Golf Exchange)  towards a new set

Shoes – $20 towards new footwear ([riced over $100) when you bring in your old ones

Bags – $25 towards a new bag worth over $100 when you bring in your old bag (not the wife!)

Gloves – $3 towards a new glove valued over $14.95 when you bring in an old one

Locations: 1231 Ste-Catherine o., 2nd floor (514-848-0078);
Laval, 3954 Autoroute 440 o. (450-680-2222);
DDO, 2315A boul. des Sources (514-693-0055); 1001 rue de Marche Centrale (514-382-4666);
St-Hubert, 1571 boul. des Promenades (450-926-0110);
Vaudeuil-Dorion, 46 Cite des jeunes (450-424-4861);
St-Leonard, 6705 boul. Metropolitain est (514-329-2069)
Hours: Regular plus Sun 11-5
www. golftown.com

This is what I call reverse shopping and it’s a lot more lucrative than a Tupperware party.  You receive money instead of spending money – just host a Gold Party. I just did and made enough money for a week’s vacation in Mexico. Who wouldn’t want that?

What you do is invite some friends, neighbours, co-workers and relatives to your house – you don’t even pay for the party as you are given $100 toward food and drinks (no receipts necessary).  Ask them all to gather up un-worn bracelets, tangled chains, orphan earrings, school rings, ankle bracelets, broken clasps,  tie tacks, cuff links  and that gaudy necklace from the 80s.

With gold trading at a 30-year-high, now is a good time to change all that sparkle into hard cash. Gold Party Canada, a Montreal based company will buy all of their unwanted gold jewelry on the spot after quickly and expertly appraising it.

Hostesses (besides buying your unused gold jewelry for top dollar) will receive $25 for every guest who sells a minimum of $200 of gold. With your $100 food credit (they didn’t even look at my dining room), if you invite just 10 people, you can earn $350 – even if you don’t sell anything.

Guests go home with an average of $750.

www.goldpartycanada.com

The best monthly sales of bedding, etc. is the one held on Louvain St. in the Chabanel area. For bedding, curtains, carpets, etc., this sale up in the Chabanel area cannot be beat. Some of the prices this time: comforters (all sizes) $15, 4-pc twin set jacquard $35, 7-pc queen set $60 or $75,  sheets $10, pillow protectors 2/$9, twin mattress covers 2/$25, waterproof twin mattress cover $17, pillows $7-$10, curtains, $3, shower curtains $5, carpets $15,  mats $7/$10, dishcloths 3/$7, oven mitt set $5.

Location: 120 Louvain
Dates and times: Fri Oct 2: 11-6;  Sat Oct 3: 8-1
www.liquideco.com

Oberson, the biggest ski store in Quebec has invested in the amazing Wintersteiger machine – there are only three in North America. You no longer have to worry if you waited for the last minute to get your skis tuned up.  From October thru April, there are “no-wait” tune-ups ($34.95, $49.95).

While you are there, you can find snowboard packages as low as $199 95, and ski & bindings packages can be $329.95. Many brands of ski wear (Descente, Karbon, Phenix, Spyder, Bonfire, Orage) from last year’s collections and ends-of-lines are here too. The other side of the store offers this season’s goods at this season’s prices.

In the Spring there’ streetwear (Roxy, Quiksilver, Rusty) and in-line skates (Rollerblade, K2, Reebok, as low as $59.99), soccer stuff (Adidas, Lotto, Umbro, Puma) and bikes. At the end of the summer is the big sale on skis.

Location: 1355 boul. des Laurentides, Laval
Corner: boul. St-Martin
Phone: 450-669-5123
Hours: Regular plus Sun 12-5
Other location (deals mixed in with new): Brossard,  8025 boul. Taschereau o. (450-462-4040).
www.oberson.com