We are so lucky to have the Lindt Chocolate Outlet Store in town.

This chocolate company started in Zurich in 1845 and then acquired the famous Rudolf Lindt’s company in1899 (he was the one that invented the “conche” melting method).

The shop offers you all the Lindt classics, including 9 kinds of Lindor truffles (orange is there), and for the “health conscious”: dark chocolate in 70%, 85%, and 90%, as well as flavors: red chili, pistachio and cherry. There’s also Ghirardelli chocolate, Kosher products and gift baskets. The liquidation deals are in the rear. There’s usually free tastes at the counter.

There was a coupon in the Gazette for 25% off regular priced merchandise and even 10% off the discounted chocolates valid until July 31st.

Location: Mega Centre des Sources, 58 Brunswick Blvd., Pointe Claire
Corner: Sources Blvd. (look around the mall corner of the strip with Ares)
Tel: 514-695-3392
Hours: M-F 9:30-7, Sat 9-5, Sun 10-5
Other locations: Quartier DIX30 (450-678-8176); Mega Centre Notre-Dame (450-689-9191)
www.lindt.com

Granite Style Prestige has been open since 2008 and are specialists in granite, quartz and marble countertops for kitchens and bathrooms.

They have a bright airy showroom and offer personalized, individualized service. To make an educated decision about what you need for you home, here are some of the products they carry:

– Caesarstone is quartz from Israel. They were one of the first quartz surface manufacturers. Caesarstone is nonporous, stain, scratch and heat resistant and backed by a residential lifetime warranty. It is an ideal surface for kitchens, vanities and more.

– Silestone comes from Spain. It is a quartz surface which comes in a range of colors and textures. This countertop offers bacteriostatic protection that guarantees maximum hygiene on its surfaces. Silestone is hard and resilient so it is a good surface for kitchen countertops, bathrooms, floors and wall cladding as it uses the minimum number of joints.

– HanStone is a quartz from Canada. It’s twice as hard as granite. Luxurious and durable, it is a low maintenance surface product available in 43 patterns. HanStone is non-porous and requires no sealing. The lustrous surface requires no conditioning or polishing. It is heat, bacteria, stain and chip resistant. It is backed by a Residential Lifetime Limited Warranty and is GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified®.

HanStone Quartz is designed for high-traffic areas such as offices, banks, hotels and restaurants, where applications can also include walls, reception areas, serving areas, table tops, staircases and much more.

Here they stock full-sized slabs, so you can bring one of your kitchen cabinet doors to the warehouse to get a better perspective. Bargain hunters will like to browse their inventory of remnants – maybe something will inspire you.

When they take your order, it is made and installed within 10 days

If you buy right now, there’s a promotion going on – you get a free sink with a value of $350 with every purchase of $2500.

If you loved Ares in their old location, you will love it even more in its spanking new huge premises.

For serious or not so serious cooks, with 44,000 different items this store is like fairyland, starting with the massive wall of gadgets. Many things that you may need for your kitchen can easily be found in this restaurant supply business: for desserts – every size of pastry tips, Wilton pans, Kaiser products, 600 candy and cake molds, KitchenAid mixers; for cooking – Cuisinart, KitchenAid, Krups, pots by Le Creuset, All-Clad, Gastrolux, Paderno, Corning, and whisks and strainers in every conceivable size.

Look for the largest Alessi counter, the sea of pepper mills, Nespresso, Saeco and Jura coffee machines, Riedel wine glasses, knives by Henckels, Wusthof, Mac, Global and Victorinox.

New location: 2044 Transcanadienne, Pointe Claire
corner: boul. des Sources
Tel: 514-695-5225
Hours: Regular plus Sun 10-5
Other locations: St-Hubert, 1501 boul. des Promenades (450-926-2737); Centre Laval (450-902-1030); 6855 Jean-Talon e. (514255-3403).
www.arescuisine.com

Canada will be the first country in the world to wave goodbye to wheeled vacuum cleaners. James Dyson did away with bags, replacing them with cyclone technology.  Now, Dyson is doing it with wheels, too.  They’re gone, gone for good, replaced by lighter, more manoeuvrable and powerful Dyson Ball™ technology that’s suited to uprights and – for the first time – canisters.

The free flowing and lightweight ball  steers into difficult places.  Dyson’s first canister vacuum cleaners with Ball™ technology – the DC36 and the DC37 – are engineered using an articulating chassis and central pivot point for negotiating tight turns.  They don’t snag on furniture.  They don’t drift on hard floors.  And they don’t topple. The uprights – DC42 and the bigger DC43 – ride on a ball and turn on a dime. They nip into corners. They dart around sofas.  And, with their instant telescopic hoses, stretch up stairs.

Motors, electronics, ducting and airways are all neatly compressed within the ball, balancing the vacuum cleaners around their low centre of gravity, making canisters that are easier to pull, and uprights that are easier to push.

Other vacuum cleaners still rely on bags or filters to trap dust, losing suction over time. Dyson has been continually refining vacuum cyclone technology since inventing it more than 20 years ago. Dyson’s Radial Root Cyclone™ technology captures more microscopic dust than any other cyclone.  Every angle of each airway is honed to ensure microscopic particles – as tiny as 0.5 microns or 1/5,000th of a pin head – are spun out of the airflow and captured in the bin.

The DC36 cleaner head has ultra-fine carbon fibre filaments to remove dust from hard floors and nylon bristles for carpets. DC37 has the Triggerhead; a simple finger trigger activates the brush bar – on for carpets, off for hard floors.

Canadian homes have multiple floor types – hard wood, tile and carpet.  Dyson Ball uprights self adjust to any floor surface, ensuring the strongest suction at the cleaner head. Long bristles penetrate carpet to remove ground-in dirt, while shorter bristles remove surface dust and pet hair.

Dyson vacuums can be bought online at dyson.com and in store at: Future Shop, Best Buy, The Bay, Deco Decouverte, Sears, Canadian Tire, The Brick, Walmart, Home Depot and independent retailers.

In a building right off the Main, Ungava is a company that sells high quality duvets at low prices ($49 & up) using only anti-allergy sanitized feathers. They can create made-to-measure sizes (even for cribs), feather beds, can restuff your old duvet and do special constructions like custom sofa seats and window seats.

You can buy silk duvets, duvet covers, buckwheat pillows and wool mattress covers.  Better quality futons (UFO) are made here too (with guarantees), as well as futon covers, bases and bolsters. To finish your decorating, there’s Egyptian cotton and bamboo sheets,  bamboo towels and a large selection of ready made curtains (19.99 up).

Location: 10 Pine Ouest, suite 112
corner: boul. St-Laurent
Tel: 514-287-9276
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thurs & Fri 10-8, Sat 10-5

Sales help at this Denmark based chain have had training in fitting bras and learn how a bra should sit around the breasts, back and neck, how to choose a cup and model for you and the anatomy of the bra itself.

There are 3 main lines (sizes 28A-40J): Change, Chic for the younger body, with extra padding, and Charade, which is lacy and a bit pricier. It’s nice that there are great prices for larger sizes which is usually hard to find.

You can also shop for bathing suits, sweats, lingerie, T’s and bra accessories, like silicone enhancers, clear straps, strap extenders and bra clips.

Right now there is a up to 70% off sale going on. It will last til the end of July.

Locations: Rockland Shopping Center (514-344-6029) ,  Carrefour Angrignon (514-789-6486),  Carrefour Richelieu ( 514-789-6488).
www.change.com
Hours:  (Rockland) Mon & Tues 10-6, Wed-Fri 10-9, Sat & Sun 10-5
Sale dates: til end of July