TNA opens shop in TO

With all the talk about businesses failing and this being a very tough time for retail, companies in expansion mode are bold and brave.

I’ve always been a supporter of shopping at home. I thought you’d like to know that TNA, the athletic wear line from Vancouver and sold exclusively at Aritzia stores, is opening it’s first Toronto store at the Eaton Centre tomorrow afternoon. There are only four other TNA shops across North America.

Get there early, check out some new winter styles and line-up to take your pic in TNA’s first and only custom, in-store photo booth. Have fun and shop!

2008 Conair Cusinart Warehouse Sale

What?
2008 Conair Cusinart Warehouse Sale
Prices are wholesale with up to 60% off.

When?
• Dec. 5: 12 noon-9 p.m.
• Dec. 6: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Dec. 7: 12 noon-5 p.m.

Where?
Conair Consumer Products Inc.
100 Conair Parkway (map)
Woodbridge, ON

Conair moved to this location last summer. I understand GPSs, Google Maps and Mapquest haven’t caught up so here are the directions from Hwy 427 & 7:
1) East to Vaughan Valley Rd. (Shell station)
2) Take Vaughn Valley R. north to Zenway Blvd.
3) Take Zenway west to New Enterprise Way
4) Take New Enterprise north to Conair Parkway.

If you go, leave a comment and let us know what you find.

Comrades in Craft Show

What?
Comrades in Craft Show
A DIY Arts & Crafts Uprising!

Vendors:
• Andrew Duff, RoPots and t-shirts
• Danielle Holke, bottlecap jewelry
• William Self, photography
• Collin Douma, watercolours, shadow boxes
• Lisa Schwartzman, t-shirts
• Tony Walsh - Ratboy Comics!
• Jen Brown, homespun wool, foodstuffs
• Patricia Jones, baked goods
• Sean Leahy, musician
• Karin daFonte - fused glass art & jewelry

CASH ONLY!

When?
• Dec. 6: 3 p.m.-10 p.m.

Where?
The Rhino
1249 Queen Street W. (map)
Toronto, ON

If you go, leave a comment and let us know what you find.

Meet my new friend Marc as in Marc Jacobs

I needed a new full-length winter coat. I have the great big, warm hooded down coat and I decided it was time to get something more stylish that I could wear day or night, for casual and more formal occasions.

Maybe I left if a bit too late. Maybe with the sagging economy, manufacturers and retailers didn’t think people would be laying out the bucks for new outerwear this season. Whatever it was, the pickings were slim.

Kathryn and Rayanne were exchanging tweets about where they bought their new winter coats. With no time to go downtown, I searched all over Yorkdale. I had seen a nice looking coat on the rack at Banana Republic. Unfortunately, it didn’t look good on me. I’d seen some nice coats on the cheap at H&M. The fabric felt a bit scratchy though. I debated whether or not it was worth buying on for $100 that I’d be tired of after a year and passed in the end.

Zara had some great looking coats in the same price-range as Banana. Problem is by mid-Saturday afternoon, they’re all picked over and several coats had buttons hanging by a thread. Sorry, Zara, sloppy merchandising even on a busy day is a big turn off, particularly when it comes to high-priced items.

So, on a whim, I dragged Mr. B. to Holts. Except for my Bobbi Brown make-up must-haves, I haven’t shopped there in ages. I took a quick look around at the sale racks scattered throughout.

Then I saw it, hanging on a sale rack behind the cash in the contemporary fashions department.. I found the perfect navy coat on sale for 30% off. It was Marc by Marc Jacobs. Believe-it-or-not, on sale, it didn’t cost much more than the coats I had seen at the chain stores. Well worth an extra $100 for a designer coat with far more attention to detail. Don’t ya think?

I usually stay away from navy but I liked it and besides, the same style in black wasn’t on sale. I decided to splurge. I’m glad I did.

What have you splurged on lately?

FYI, Holts had another markdown a few days after I bought my coat. I was surprised to learn they don’t offer price adjustments. (I wonder if their policy will change as Canadian retailers start feeling the hit of the recession?) On the bright side, my coat is still selling for the price I paid and now the black one is on sale too.