The new 13th edition of Smart Shopping Montreal is now in full color, with each chapter a different hue of the rainbow so you can access your favourite part easily All clip art has been replaced with 70 color photos of the stores so you can see exactly what they sell
My work is a win-win proposition for Montreal. Reporting on these mostly small (often family) stores generates more customers for them and keeps the city greener by focusing on shopping right here at home. At the same time, the readers who find new places to shop and save money are happy with the extra cash in their pockets. My reputation as the city’s smartest shopper rests on her years of honest assessments.
Smart Shopping Montreal, is not only a book, but is now the go-to place online to find the best deals in the city – the ones that have received my special stamp of approval. This informative site www.smartshoppingmontreal.com has pages of stores from her book with detailed info on what they sell, photos of what you will find there, address, hours, contact info and a map of where they are., as well as a link to their site for more information (look at the top left hand corner of each page for the Table of Contents to these shops).
The most popular place on the site this shlog where all week long I post the sales and deals I finds all over the city. As well there is a questions and answer section where people write in and I help them find what they are looking for – right here in town. My 25-year-shopping-reputation has spawned a fan club with a huge following and 385,000 interested clickers per month.
Marching right into the future the book is available as an e-book on the site, as a downloadable PDF for an iPAD and as a USB key. So with this information you have the best of all worlds, you can shop online from the comfort of your own home and at the same time stay local and green by shopping and supporting our local merchants.
You will find 1,500 shopping answers in the 13th edition of Smart Shopping Montreal. Chatelaine magazine has ranked me as one of Canada’s Smartest Shoppers.
Once you pick up “Smart Shopping Montreal” it is hard to put it down, as you discover:
– liquidation locales: hotel furniture, CD/DVD’s, golf equipment, home hardware, Lindt chocolate, Black & Decker products, designer shoes, pasta
– services: toy rental, someone to organize your life, bridal gown rental, home cooked meal delivery, make-up artist, senior driver or a Montreal complaint office.
– second-hand shops: toys, vinyl records, furniture consignment, vintage party dresses and gowns, furniture re-purposer, snowboards, re-vamped clothing
People who treasure saving objects from obsolescence and enjoy the work performed by master craftsmen will find solace in the chapter on repairmen. Do you know where to go to transfer those Super 8 movies into DVD’s, find a burner for your stove, replace a needle on a record player, buy a guitar string, re-cover a couch or alter a bridal gown?
Montreal is lucky to have a large mixture of ethnic groups. Reading through the International Food section takes you around the world with a smorgasbord of stores to entice you to try new flavours, perhaps pretzel rolls, smoked eel, quince syrup, paczki (polish donuts) or suckling pig.
In every budget, there is always a place where extra money is spent solving shopping problems. In, the specialty stores (which are often pricey) you’ll find: car spoilers, gluten-free food, hair extensions, chocolate tea, electric scooters, point shoes, plus-sized women’s sports clothing or ecological household products.
Smart shopping to save time and money is of interest to all consumers; why not you?
The book is available in Montreal book stores and until Christmas you can buy it here online for the pre-pub sale price for only $18 including tax and postage (regularly $20.95 in bookstores) . look at the front page of the web site for details.
