These days it is harder to find special dressy outfits for parties, communion, confirmation or baptism. Lingerie Pina & Carmelo Sacco, the go-to place for generations, is still the place to go.

If you have a wedding planned this year, the Mother of the Bride could find an outfit, the bridal party too and you can even get bonbonnieres made-to-order and wrapped.  They offer a Bridal Registry and there are gifts galore.

The name  clearly does not define this family business as you’ll find and housewares galore: silverware, china, toasters and meat slicers. If you are looking for ecological cookware, they sell Cool Kitchen which has no PTFE, no PFOA and can be used for induction cooking. The Italian community knows to come here for Pizzel machines for cookies and Cavetelli machines for gnocchi, Those who like collectibles will find: Precious Moments, Walt Disney Collection and Disney Traditions by Jim Shore.

Designers are here to help you with curtains (free installation), and they have the exclusive Hunter Douglas Alustra line with copper and chrome headers. If you need them, there’s carpet runners by the yard.

Do you know where else to buy housecoats or cotton handkerchiefs?

Location: 8365 boul. Viau, St-Leonard QC H1R 2T6
corner: boul. Robert
Tel: 514-323-0427
Hours: Mon-Wed 9-6, Thurs & Fri 9-7:30, Sat 9-5. Open Sunday 10-5 from Labor Day – June 1st

Imagine my delight when I open my favorite magazine, New York, and recognize a full page photo of a nail file from our very own homegrown company Diamancel. The Best Bet section suggests that you shouldn’t use a pumice stone on your feet as it collects bacteria. It quotes Dr. Krista Archer, a podiatric surgeon who likes Diamancel surgical grade steel foot files and so do I.

I’ve been singing their praises and using a Diamancel nail file for as long as I can remember. It works amazingly well and you never have to buy another one.

The diamond is  the hardest, most abrasive stone known to man.  So Diamancel has created a unique line of genuine diamond files using this property. I stock up on them for gifts.

Each flexible diamond nail file in the Diamancel family has been designed for specific nail types to beautifully shape and enhance both natural and sculptured nails. The Diamancel Diamond Hand and Foot Callus Files are ideal for removing and softening rough, dry skin.

Discover Diamancel’s  Sacha™ Diamond Nail File for pets. A great alternative,  Sacha™ Diamond File replaces the often-unpleasant cutting process with an easy and effective filing method. No cutting required.

Diamancel files provide effective fast, easy and effortless filing. They are durable and will outlast all your files, which make them a money saver.

• The files are washable/sanitizable as they all can be washed with soap and water
• They are hygienic too as they can be soaked and disinfected in medical grade solution.
• The fiberglass base is both resistant and flexible making filing easier

These are  effortless to use as you can use a light hand and the diamonds will do the work for you. All files have been salon tested for maximum performance.

You can order your files now on their website or you can see them and feel them in person in the new showroom is now open every Monday 9-3.

If you head there, you will also discover the Arbonne wellness health and nutrition botanical products for the whole family.

Location: 2477 Rue Guenette, V.S.L. H4R 2E9
Hours: Mon 9-3
Tel: 514-856-9711
http://www.diamancel.com/
www.christelecaron.arbonne.com

While it’s icy and snowy out there, you can still accomplish alot from your keyboard. It’s even better when you can shop-at-home at a store right here in Montreal and keep the money in our own city. Goldtex now has an e-commerce site which is simple to use. You can get your kids all clothed for the Spring – while shopping from the comfort of your couch. They we will also match the price of any online retailer in Canada.

This superb outlet is hidden amongst factories in LaSalle, but if you want to venture out there, it’s worth the trip to find it. Some of the clothing brands in sizes from newborn to 16  are: Nike, Absorba, NHL, Nasri, Rococo, Gusti, Perlimpinpin, Soul & Glory, and much more.

If your  kids have outgrown their school color code clothing – they sell it here: shirts, dress pants, unisex white polos, cargo and Bermuda shorts, cords, tunics, skirts, cardigans, blazers, knee highs and tights.

If the kids are signed up for dance lessons, have a look at their dance wear, which includes ballet and tap and jazz shoes, all by Mondor, Danshuz & Motionwear.

Formal parties coming up? The upper mezzanine has  fancy party dresses, even for flower girls, suits, tuxedos, outfits for communion, confirmation and baptism.

There’s Perlimpinpin, Cocalo and Jolly Jumper bedding and lots of bottles, hats and shoes at the front. For the babies, you can pick up hooded bath towels and sleepers. Baby accessories are by Safety First, Nuby, Graco, Avent, Dr. Brown and Medela and cribs and strollers by Graco, Baby Jogger, Quinny, Peg Perego & Lil’ Angels.

Location: 8875 Salley, LaSalle Click for map 
corner: Dollard
Tel: 514-365-9699
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-5, Thurs & Fri 10-6, Sat 9-5
www.goldtex.ca

Chocolates are the ubiquitous go-to gift for Valentine’s Day, so you might want to head to Le Panier as they have all kinds of chocolates. If you want your love to remember you, how about Louis Sherry New York chocolates – in beautiful keepable metallic tin boxes? Or for something even sweeter, they are one of the few places in town making homemade fudge so you could choose a favorite flavour.

For aromatics, Michael Design’s shea butter soaps, handwash and lotions are there or look for the big display of everything lavender. You can always buy Montreal’s favorite humbugs (now in different flavors), or someone might enjoy their own 5-year-old cheddar. One corner of the store is filled with jewelry options like Alex and Ani.

For those of you who are looking for practical ideas, a cool gift might be an “upside-down” umbrella which closes without water dripping on you or your car. You will be remembered everyday if you buy the Mighty Mug. It won’t fall over – EVER – and can be used near a keyboard without worries.

Le Panier won the title of best gift store in Canada so this store worth a trip from anywhere. The huge shop is chock full of gourmet food, kitchenware,  and gifts at prices mostly under $25. You will not walk out empty-handed when you can choose amongst the jewelry, jams, hot sauces, and kitchen gadgets.

You can even spice things up with their wall of hot sauces and think of things to do with Mike’s Hot Honey.    

Location: 274 Bord du Lac, Pointe Claire
corner: de Lourdes
Tel: 514-695-7038
Hours: Regular plus Sun 10-5
www.thepanier.com

Chocolates and Valentine’s Day go together like TV and Netflix. How about I tell you where to find wholesale priced chocolates so you can buy more?  Galerie Au Chocolat recently moved to a new larger facility  so there’s extra space for you to see all that they offer. Since 1985, they’ve been producing yummies with fine quality Belgian chocolate and confections for the North American market. They’ve  been a best kept secret spot for years, since they were a wholesale but now they sell retail with wonderful prices.

The delish ultra premium items which are made with fine Belgian chocolate (Kosher) come in many interesting varieties: almond or cranberry clusters, chocolate covered orange peel or apricots, Rice Krispie or candy cane bark, Amaretto creams, mint chocolate truffles, espresso wafers, or their famous almond bark.

They have a variety of packaging options. You can easily see the treats inside their cellophane bags tied with pretty ribbon, or you can buy them in a gift (or just for you) tin or in a beautifully wrapped gift box. You can fax, email or call in your orders any time. Delivery on the island of Montreal is $10.

Whether your taste buds are craving chocolates or you need gifts for everyone you love, head to Galerie au Chocolat.

New Location: 6665 Chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse, Saint-Laurent, QC H4T 1Z5
corner: Migneron
Tel: 514-331-8460
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5
www.galerieauchocolat.ca

A forever piece of golden jewelry is always a special gift for Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to cost a bundle if you head for a jewelry wholesaler.

You can pay full price for gold jewelry in full-price retail stores downtown or you can go up to Bijouterie Oro, a wholesaler, and save half your money. Since 1987, this 3rd generation jeweler has been selling wholesale, and is open up to the public. Lucky us.

There is lots of golden stock to choose amongst, more than you would see in your small local jewelry store. You could go nutsy over the vast assortment of gold hoop earrings – they sell them by weight. You can select amongst the 100’s of chains; they are strong in 2-tone and 3-colors of gold from Italy or Turkey. There’s 14-carat Italian chain bracelets too, and lots of little religious pendants.

If you want to buy illusion diamond studs, they have those too. These earrings give the illusion of a whole stone, but are made up of little ones – for a much littler price.

If you have an older diamond (or any other precious stone) ring and you’d like to change it into something more modern, they can show you trays and trays of semi-mounts (that’s what your stone sits in), so you can see exactly what the ring will look like – it can even be tried on. You can take jewelry which has been just sitting in a jewelry box and have it re-modeled.

Bijouterie Oro still does local manufacturing, so they can reproduce a piece of jewelry from a photo. And they can repair your broken jewelry too.

If you decide to have something made from scratch, it would take about two weeks from the time you walk in the door until you happily present it.

Location: 1255 Phillips Square, Suite 1010
Tel: 514-393-1721 or 514-575-7511
Hours: by appointment only, Mon-Fri 9-4:30
orojewelleryinc@gmail.com
www.smartshoppingmontreal.com/store.php?s=280

Q1 – Can I just expect to be able to just return a gift?A purchase is like a contract you have made with a store. You decided to buy it at the price they offered. The contract is completed and you are both satisfied. No returns are considered. If they choose to change the terms, it is solely up to each business and not a consumer law. Don’t assume when you buy something you can just return it.

Q2- So they don’t have to take it back?

Right. They can choose to offer an exchange policy, a store refund, a one week or one month return allowance or none at all, a final sale

Q3 – How can the customer know this? Are there any rules that a store must follow for returns policies?

– Posting return rules near the cash register or stamp the policy on receipt itself
– Ask at the store what the policy is. Often after Christmas, there’s more leniency and some stores even have a stamp which can allow you to return months later if you are an early shopper.

Q4 – What if it’s broken?
A defective product has to be returned to the manufacturer and it depends on the retailer’s policy and it is up to you to find out if you or they have to do this.

Q5 – Any other important suggestions?
Be pleasant, not rude or super aggressive if you want someone to help you. Make sure you are talking to the person that has the authority to remedy the situation

The JRC Toys mega toy warehouse sale is the one everyone waits for to score incredible deals. It’s the one-stop Toy Holiday Sale for the most coveted name-brand toys and this year promises to be the biggest sale ever.

JRC Toys has amazing deals on the hottest toys around and it’s a great time to cross off items on your holiday list while offering you the opportunity to grab discounts of up to 70% off on all kinds of toys. Shop often as new items appear every week.

Get some incredible savings on some of the biggest brand names toys including: Barbie, CAT, Crayola,Disney Pixar Cars, Disney Princess, Disney Frozen, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Hot Wheels, Incredibles 2, Leap Frog, Mattel, Mega Bloks, Melissa & Doug, My Little Pony, ORB, Paw Patrol, Playskool, Spin Master,  Star Wars, and VTech.

They are now open every day, Monday – Friday till 8pm. They accept debit, Visa Mastercard, but no cheques. There will be no exchanges or refunds, as all sales are final.

Head here for the best prices on the most recognizable brand name toys.

Location: 5589 Royalmount
corner: Chemin Devonshire
Metro: Station de la Savanne
Tel: 514-342-6979
Times: Mon-Fri 10-8, Sat & Sun 10-5 and Christmas Eve 10-3
www.jrctoys.com
email: info@jrctoys.com

Nova West Island runs Thrift Shops for NOVA which is having a half price sale at their 4 locations this weekend. The shops fund their charitable foundation which offers home palliative care and cancer support groups and runs 2 adult day centers for the elderly, all without government funding.

The 4 stores help raise money for their great cause. You can scoop up second-hand clothing for the family nicely hung on racks, or look for shoes, purses and hats. “Green” shopping by recycling is a planet saving idea: there’s home knick-knacks, china, glassware, jewellery,and books. The sale even includes furniture at the Beaconsfield store.

Locations: (biggest) 43 Ste-Anne, St-Anne-de-Bellevue (514-457-1642); 2750 boul. St-Charles, Kirkland (514-697-6692); furniture (and knickknacks), 449 boul. Beaconsfield, Beachonsfield (514-694-8417) (books only); 321 Plaza Pointe Claire, Pointe-Claire (514-694-8417)
Hours: Dec 8 & 9: 10-4
www.thriftshopsfornova.com
fb boutiques d’occasion pour Nova/Thrift shops for Nova

Now that it’s getting cold and you’re staying inside more, it would be a good time to start a needle work project. You even have time to get it ready to gift it for the holidays so head to Jeannettes Needlecraft  Shoppe to start.

A gift done by hand is one that shows that you truly care as your personal effort is displayed in each hand sewn stitch .

A quick gift idea: Try a  “stitch n’ zip” kit; These are ready to use eye glass cases, iPad cases, Kindle cases and tallis bags. The kits come pre-assembled. All you have to do is the needlepoint and then just zip it up and give it as a gift. You can have a tallis bag personalized with an embroidered Hebrew name too.

They also carry scarf yarns (Canadiana and Decor by Patons), to make the latest fashion accessory item as well as other low cost items that will tempt you to start those projects that you have being putting off.

If you want to start on a needlework project, here you can buy yarn and canvases. They can also upholster with needlepoint (especially chairs), finish cushions and mount tapestries.

Head to Jeannettes Needlecraft  Shoppe, a friendly family business and they will frame your special hand-made project, or a painting, lithograph, photograph or diploma at 15% off.

Happily helping you with your project has been the #1 reason people keep coming back to this shop for years and years. Call for a time to accommodate your schedule.

Location: 5015 Coolbrook Ave., Montreal H3X 2K8 / Google Maps: http://bit.ly/24l8jon
corner:  Queen Mary Rd.
Tel: 514-486-2800
Hours: Mon-Fri 9:30-5, Sat 9:30-4
Metro: Station Snowdon
http://www.jeannettes.com/
e-mail: jeannettes@videotron.ca