Recession prices are also available at Dahlia warehouse sales. You can zuzz up your wardrobe with their pretty blouses, tops, sweaters, jackets which are made under the monikers of: Dalia, Katherine Barclay and Renuar. For this sale the prices are only $10 and $20.

Location: 225 Chabanel, Suite 315
Corner: Meunier
Dates and Times: Mar 26 & 27: 11-8, Mar 28: 9-2, Apr 2 & 3: 11-8,  Apr 4: 9-2
www.corwik.com
www.daliacollection.com
www.renuar.com
www.katherinebarclay.com

Males and females that oogle the hot brands of G-Star Raw, Firetrap, Hooch, Lucky Brand, Scotch & Soda, English Laundry, Fullcircle, Baby Phat, DKNY, Peppercorn, Schott, Kaporal 5 and UMM will love the 60%-90% off prices at the Premium Retail Group sales. Where else can you find Lucky Brand tops for $10? Other brands (except G-Star Raw) will be sold mostly for: short sleeve tops $15, long sleeves $20, dresses $20, hoodies or sweaters $30, jackets $40, outerwear $50.

Location: 4454 Garand corner of Pomba, VSL
Hours: Wed, Sat, Sun 11-5, Thurs & Fri 11-9
Dates: til Apr 5th
www.premiumretailgroup.com

D’Électronique RYCO is closing its doors and moving back to head office (J. Sonic). So this weekend, during the final liquidation, you can score on electronic products as they would of course rather sell the stuff than have to pay to move the stuff. There’s 50″ Plasma HDTV TV’s for $689.99, ACL 37″ HDTV $399.99, 4-handset remote phones $68.99, GPS $99.99, home theatres 148.99, DVD camcorders $248.99, surveillance sets $288.99, 1.1 pi cu. 900-watt  microwave ovens $59.99 and lots more of course.

Location: 3232 boul. St-Martin O., Laval
between: Chomedey Blvd. and Daniel Johnson Blvd.
Dates and Times Mar 19 & 20 10-9, Mar 21 10-5

Pregnant women who will be delivering their babies at the Lakeshore General Hospital should not ask for a private room if they want one. Why? You’ll get one anyway at no cost. However, if a mother requests a private or semi-private room, she is charged full price (private $176.60 per day, semi-private $77.71)  – even though no other kind is available. Since the 15-room maternity ward only has private rooms, patients who ask for a ward room, are given – without charge – a private room.
“Our interpretation of the Quebec government’s directive is that even though we only have private rooms, we have to ask the patient what kind of room they want and bill them if they ask for semi-private or private,” hospital spokesman Louis-Pascal Cyr said last week.
There is no plan to change this directive so women who continue to ask for a private or semi-private room in the maternity ward will continue to pay, while those who don’t ask will still get a private room at no charge. (details came from The Gazette)

Maxwell’s Clothiers is a family run business from Hong Kong who twice a year (since 1961), in March and October, rents a banquet hall in Ruby Foo’s Hotel and then for another 3 days downtown. I have visited their elegant showroom in Hong Kong to see how the shirts and suits are made.
They make it easy for us to shop as they fly here and bring their expertise to us with a team of tailors who can fit men and women for custom-tailored suits, jackets, pants, overcoats and shirts. For 3 custom-made cotton shirts, it’s only $135 plus tax and shipping (about $25). Suits go for $395 – $495 and orders take 10 weeks to arrive. A local tailor has been hired to do any little alterations that may be necessary. No appointments are necessary – just show up and bring your friends.

Tel: 23666705, 23666658 Fax: (852) 23699175
e-mail: maxwell@maxwellsclothiers.com
Locations and dates: Ruby Foo’s Hotel, 7655 Decarie Blvd.
Tel: 514-731-7701
Dates: Mar 20-23
and Le Centre Sheraton, 1201 Boul. Rene-Levesque W.
Tel: 514-878-2000
Dates: Mar 24-27

Papillon is a by-the pound store on the West Island. Buying this way is a good way to save money, because you buy exactly the amount you need for your pantry or for that one recipe. I was happy to note, the last time I was in that they have a significant gluten-free section including: pizza dough, breads, cakes, cookies, pasta, pie dough, and even frozen dinners.
At this store you’ll find herbs de Provence, jelly bellies, dried apples, instant muffin mixes, black strap molasses, 12 kinds of chocolate wafers for making chocolate molds, brown basmati rice and dried glazed fruits. You can rent one of their 200 cake mold pans and find many cake decorating necessities – and even buy pinatas.

Location: 303 boul. St-Jean, Pointe Claire at Highway 20
Phone: 514-697-5157
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-9, Sat 9-5, Sun 10-5

Whenever something old breaks and you’re wondering “where do I go with this?”, this is the place to head to. Repairs and restoration to china, crystal, antiques, lamps, paintings and objets d’art are cheerfully taken care of. They can still fix older small electrical appliances, TV’s, VCR’s and clocks.For the last 56 years they’ve been fighting obsolescence and winning!

Location 4652 boul. Decarie, Snowdon
corner: ch. Cote St-Luc
Tel: 514-484-8332
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5
www.themrfixit.com

A a new Quebec-started restaurant chain opened on the West Island called Sac-Wich. It’s a sandwich concept offering up options like Philly cheese steak, Cuban sandwiches, veggie and Italian ones on ciabatta bread which is cooked by fire in their brick oven. There’s the usual pizza suspects and a make your own salad with a choice of 20 toppings
However, there is an entertaining twist to the ordering process: customers will be their own order-takers. They fill out a  menu on a brown paper bag and write a name. Once filled out, the customer then places the bag on an automatic pulley-system, which delivers the selections to the Sac-Wich™ team in the kitchen.  Minutes later, the name is called.
In order to encourage you to come in and try it out, they are offering free food and entertainment to all kiddies on Sunday, March 15th.A clown will perform from 11-2.

Location: 6321 Transcanadienne (near Future Shop) in the “Maxi Plaza”
corner: Boul. St. Jean
www.sacwich.com

NOVA West Island (formerly VON) is a charitable foundation that offers home palliative care, cancer support groups and runs 2 adult day centers for the elderly. They run three locations of second-hand stores which help raise funds for these endeavors; They receive no provincial or federal government funding. The dedicated volunteers have managed to raise nearly 1.25 million dollars over the past 10 years.
They have recently moved in Ste Anne de Bellevue to a new big home which used to be a gym, so they now have 6,000 sq. ft. to fill with goodies for you. You can scoop up clothing for the family nicely hung on racks or look for shoes, purses and hats. There’s lots of furniture, home knick-knacks, china, glassware and books too. It makes sense to find your way out here to shop and to spend money for a great cause. You can also donate your treasures for them to sell.

Locations: new home, 43 St-Anne at Lamarche (514-457-1642); bookstore (514-457-1948); 449 boul. Beaconsfield (514-694-8417);  2750 boul. St-Charles at Woodland (514-697-6692)
Hours: Tues-Sun 10-4

It is a sign of the times when a restaurant offers a “pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth” deal. At the Taverne Crescent, these lunch-only deals are comprised of 3 appetizers and 4 main dishes. The menu is on the placemat and changes daily. There is a suggested price but when your bill comes, it is up to you to decide the amount you think you’d like to pay. Co-owner George Pappas heard about the idea happening in London. You can imagine what it does for his accounting – no computerized bills are possible – it’s back to pen and carbon paper. Score one for the Luddites.

Location: 1433 Crescent St.
Tel: 514.845.1888
Hours: Lunch time, Mon-Fri 11-3
www.tavernecrescent.com