Dedicated to independent shoppers and retailers

Direct to you from Janet Simons, author of the Colorado Smart Shopper and veteran Rocky Mountain News shopping columnist.

DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!
Shopping should be fun, especially when it involves children. If you dread shopping with a pack of squirmy, impatient offspring, try taking your back-to-school adventures to one of these festive local shopping venues.

Bet the kids aren’t the only ones who leave smiling!

Byron and Vi Brown have been volunteer helpers for this immense, regionally famous sale since 1968. Sale director Vi runs the Jeans, Sweats and Sweater Room, so we think we can believe Byron when he says it’s possible to spend less than $150 to outfit an “entire family – depending on the size of the family.”
Those outfits are apt to include several designer pieces donated by the well-to-do residents of Minturn, Eagle, Avon and Vail.
“Our best year was 2000, when we made $190,000,” said Vi. “A guy had sold his house, and the people who bought it said they didn’t want the furniture, so he just gave us the keys and told us to take everything. So we did. There was custom furniture, artifacts from Africa – it was amazing.”
The 22,000-square-foot building that once housed Minturn’s Battle Mountain High School also offers a Book Room, Shoe Room, Linen Room, Lamp Room, Luggage Room, Electronics Room, New Room, Women’s Clothing Room, Menswear Room, Teen Room -- and more. Outdoors, you’ll find skis, sporting goods and other weather-proof  goods, plus the immense Auction Tent, where Byron is looking forward to watching folks bid on bikes, office equipment, mattresses, “some really nice armoires” and “just about anything else you can think of.”
The sale, which draws dedicated throngs from the Western Slope, Front Range and beyond, runs 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15; Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23. On the second weekend, prices are reduced by 50 percent or more.
Proceeds support the Eagle Valley Community Fund. For more information, call 970-827-5645 or go to www.eaglevalleyrummagesale.com.

Whether you’ve got a 5-year-old primitivist or a college art major with an inexhaustible need for canvas, you’ll want to check out the Back to Art School Sale at Meininger Art Supply, 499 Broadway, 303-698-3838, and 201 S. Weber St., Colorado Springs, 719-578-8070. Meininger’s eight-page sale flyer is on line at www.meininger.com, detailing discounts of 20 percent to 70 percent on canvases, brushes, paint, sketch books, drawing sets and so, so much more. Parents of young children should look into the Kids Art Club, currently on summer vacation.

Meininger’s, by the way, has been an independent local retailer since 1881.

The fall sale for Littleton’s Mothers of Multiples Club runs 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Douglas County Events Center, I-25 at exit 181. The $1 cost of admission lets you shop through 29,000 square feet filled with gently used children’s equipment, toys, clothes, furniture, books, strollers and maternity  wear, and it  also helps support the club’s community outreach program. For more information, go to www.mothersofmultiples.com.

If you love a parade, don’t miss the Grand Parade and the Children’s Parade, which highlight Littleton’s Western Welcome Week on Saturday, Aug. 15. And if you’re every bit as stirred by good deals on handmade goods, you’ll also want to check out the 50th Annual Western Welcome Week Arts and Crafts Fair, with handmade offerings from more than 200 crafters and fine artists from Colorado and across the United States, including the woman business owners affiliated with Boutique 4 the Soul. It’s 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Main and Prince streets in historic downtown Littleton. For more information, go to www.westernwelcomeweek.com and www.boutique4thesoul.com.
 

Lots of businesses must open around this time of year, because lots are holding anniversary sales – much to the benefit of you, their customers.
    For example?

MODERN BUNGALOW IS 5
             Modern Bungalow, 2594 S. Colorado Blvd., 303-300-3332, www.modernbungalow.com, is holding drawings for some really nice merchandise -- a Morris chair, a leather recliner, a leather rocking chair, an oak queen frame – on Saturday Aug. 15, Aug. 22 and Aug. 29. No purchase is necessary; just come in and put your name in the box.

THE COLLECTION IS 10
           The Collection, 899 Broadway, 303-623-4200, www.antiquedesign.com, is offering reductions of 20 percent to 60 percent on all its estate jewelry, Oriental rugs, home accessories, antiques, fine art pieces and other great design items through August.

TAGAWA GARDENS IS 27
          Through Aug. 20, perennials, rose bushes and patio furniture are half price and ornamental grasses, trees, shrubs and “nearly everything else” is reduced by 25 percent at Tagawa Gardens,  7711 S. Parker Rd., Centennial, 303-690-4722, www.TagawaGardens.com. 

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
    How could we possibly stop without telling you about these?
   
ROSEY’S BOUTIQUE CLOTHING NOW WAY CHEAP
     Prices continue to drop as the moving sale for Rosey’s at Tamarac Square, 7777 E. Hampden Ave., 303-337-7870, heads into the home stretch. Her hand-picked selection of clothing is now reduced by 50 percent to 70 percent, and jewelry accessories are reduced by 40 percent to 70 percent.

GROW CLOTHING WAY CHEAP, TOO!
Denver designer and Grow co-founder Verity Freebern is continuing her Web site Clothes Out Sale. All Grow’s whimsical “Sweet Pea,” “Pumpkin” and “Peanut” 100 percent cotton play clothes, originally priced at $25 to $40, are going for $10 or less on the site, www.growgrowgrow.com. Freebern is offering free shipping to Best Colorado Deals readers. To take advantage of the offer -- which is good only once -- enter the coupon code PC10301 on the checkout page when your order is complete.

SUCH A DEAL FROM TWICE AS HAUTE
    Go to the Web site for Twice as Haute consignment, www.twiceashaute.com, and subscribe to the newsletter or call and ask for one. The current edition offers a coupon for 15 percent off your entire purchase through Saturday, Aug. 15. Twice As Haute is at 600 Downing St., 303-753-6003.

This e-newsletter is an effort to help both consumers looking for great deals and small retailers trying to survive against the Walmarts of the world. Please tell me about the wonderful stores, fantastic deals and amazing shopkeepers you know about by sending an e-mail to Janet@bestcoloradodeals.com.


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