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.

Prices have dropped another notch at the Assistance League Thrift Shop, 1331 E. Colfax Ave., 303-861-2122, which often features high-quality, classic goods from Denver’s society babes. Women’s and men’s shoes and pants are now 50 cents to $1 a pair; and women’s tops, dresses, shorts, belts and tank tops are 25 cents to $3.25 apiece. There are similarly ridiculously low prices on sport coats, accessories, linens, silverplate, hardware and dishes.

You might want to pay a little more than the volunteer staff is asking, however, because all the money raised in the shop goes to outfit impoverished and/or homeless schoolchildren head-to-toe in brand-new clothing. Children make their own selections from a room full of clothing and supplies right next door to the shop. Each child leaves with two shirts, two pairs of pants, a jacket, six pair of underwear, a package of socks, a hat, gloves, books, a hygiene kit and a voucher for a pair a shoes.

Skiers and riders who love retail parties look forward all year to the ballyhoo, hoopla and bargains of Labor Day weekend. It all started with a 1954 ski-equipment clearance sale at Gart Brothers Sports, and 60 years later, Sniagrab is stronger than ever under the Sports Authority name.

Rope drop for this year’s event is 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Sports Authority Sports Castle, 1000 Broadway, 303-863-2260. There you’ll find booths selling season passes for the major resorts, special events, athlete appearances and discounts of 40 percent to 75 percent off last year's gear. Other participating Sports Authority stores are in Littleton, Fort Collins, Boulder, Parker and Colorado Springs.

Sniagrab turned Labor weekend into a ski-industry-wide season starter, and it isn't this weekend’s only ski sale/party. There’s Colorado Ski & Golf’s Ski Rex Sale and Powder Days at Christy Sports, among others.

By the way, Sports Authority, www.sportsauthority.com; Colorado Ski and Golf, www.coloradoskiandgolf.com; and Christy Sports, www.christysports.com; all are based in metro Denver.

Late summer and early fall are becoming more popular for weddings, and we’ve got really good news if nuptials are in your near future. How does $149 sound for a wedding gown that still bears its $3,000 Auer’s tag? Too much? Alrighty, then. Choose from more than a hundred new-with-tags wedding gowns from Oleg Cassini, Maggie Sotero, Vera Wang and other prominent designers priced at $50 to $100 at Puttin’ on the Ritz women’s consignment, behind the Black-Eyed Pea at 1446 S. Colorado Blvd., 303-759-4398.

And owner Pat Jackson has lots more than wedding gowns. During the Summer Blowout Sale, a huge portion of the store’s merchandise is reduced by 75 percent, so you’ll pay $5 to $200 for new-with-tags pieces from Nanette LePore, BCBG, Misook, Dana Buchman, Armani and Escada originally priced at $30 to $3,000.

The good deals aren’t limited to past-season pieces. Never-worn fall merchandise from a pricey mountain-resort boutique is 50 percent to 80 percent off original retail, and there’s even a full-length, worn-once-then-stored mink coat from Blackgama, originally $10,000, priced at $3,800.

Modern Bungalow, 1446 S. Colorado Blvd., 303-759-4398, is offering everything in the Simply Amish catalog at a 25 percent discount from Friday, Sept. 4 to Friday, Sept. 18, and the catalog’s entertainment furniture is reduced by 30 percent through Sept. 30. You can peruse that catalog on line at the Modern Bungalow Web site, www.modernbungalow.com. What’s more, a good selection of the store’s floor sample furniture has been reduced for quick sale.

Y&L Shoe Repair, 3401 E. First Ave., 303-333-9196, is known mostly for the shoe-repair skills of Mark and Rubin, who even know how to rebuild a broken heel. The shop also sells shoes, however, and right now there’s a summer clearance. Baskets of colorful flip flops and faux crocs are $7 a pair, and comfort sandals and other summer shoes from Clarks, Spring Step, Propet, Fly Flot, Soft Spots and others, originally $30 to $70 a pair, are $19 to $60 a pair.

The dozen antique dealers who occupy the 10,000 square feet of the Antique Exchange, 1500 S. Broadway, 303-777-7871, have reduced their prices by 10 percent to 50 percent during the reconstruction of South Broadway.
Bob Crayne assures potential shoppers that access remains easy if you use the Exchange’s back entrance, where there’s also plenty of parking.

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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