La Cache, April Cornell’s vision with its hippie look of clothing and furnishings has been a fixture on Greene Ave in Montreal, and then got sprinkled throughout the US. Troubled times forced closings of 79 of the US stores and now 29 of the Canadian ones but all is not lost. Though they have filed for bankruptcy protection, you can still clean up the deals at the clearance location mentioned in my “Smart Shopping Montreal” book. One would think that all of that merchandise has to make its way over there eventually so there’s a silver lining for us in this black cloud.

You have always been able to find leftovers, overstocks, seconds and last year’s lines here. What is hard to find is this odd spot. If you have a good map or GPS, you’ll be able to buy linens and pillowcases, tableware at 30% to 50% less and lots of off- season April Cornell clothes and jewelry (women and girls) up to 75% off.

Location: La Cache Entrepot, 108 Gallery Square, Pointe St-Charles
corner: Wellington
Tel: 514-846-1091
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5
www.lacache.ca

Night owls and those desperate to catch me live and ask those hard-to-find shopping questions, will get a chance tonight. I will appear on the Peter Anthony Holder’s show from 12:30 am – 1 am (that’s Thursday early early morning). You can fire away about any subject: back-to-school searches, sales this week, where to buy a leather jacket for this nippy weather, flea markets in the area, second-hand video games, made-to-measure bras. You name it and I’ll try to help you find it.

Location: CJAD 800AM
Time: 12:30-1 am www.cjad.ca

Fashionwear is a fashion service which sets up shop the Ruby Foo’s Hotel 4 times during the Fall and again in the Spring. Each time, they stock about 15-20 lines of women’s trendy clothes with an emphasis on choosing exclusive lines that you will not find in the stores. At this month’s sale, you’ll see the gorgeous Soia and Kyo coats from Mackage and Fidelity and JBrand high end denim collections. SeneGence, smudge-and waterproof lipstick and makeup are shown too. Each sale offers up different merchandise. The best part about shopping here is that as you try on outfits, you are aided by one of the consultants, who helps you coordinate a wardrobe. Remembering what you bought last time, they try to update your look based on what you already have at home. To find out dates of sales, get on their e-mail or calling lists.

Location: RubyFoo’s Hotel, 7655 Decarie Blvd. at de la Savanne
Cell: 514-234-4707
Sale dates: Sept 10-12 10am-9pm
e-mail: fashionwear@videotron.ca
www.fashionwearcanada.com

Psst… see my last post. There’s another sale in this hotel right now for suits and shirts guys and gals (The Tailored Man).

Since 1964, The Tailored Man has been coming to North America fitting men (and sometimes women) with made-to-measure suits at Hong Kong’s prices (starting at $435 and going up to $735, shirts start at $50). The suits come with extras you don’t usually see in North American stores: sweat shields, cell phone pockets and the pants have a heel guard and knee lining. When you order a shirt, you choose collar style, cuff and monogram location. Sunder Daswani is back in Montreal starting today and you must make a personal appointment: 877-984-3339 or www.tailoredman.com/appointment. To be added to their mailing list: goodfit@tailoredman.com

Locations and Dates: Sept. 8-10 at the Sheraton Centre, 1250 Rene Levesque West, Phone: 514- 878-2000
Sept 11 & 12: Ruby Foo’s Hotel, 7655 Decarie Blvd. Phone: 514-731-7701
Sept 13 & 14: Sheraton Laval, 2440 Autoroute des Laurentides, Phone: 450-687-2440
www.tailoredman.com

I know it isn’t Montreal, but the Burlington Town Center in Vermont is trying to entice us to shop at their indoor center by offering a chance at a $250, $500 or $1500 shopping spree. The shops inside are high end (Macy’s, Coldwater Creek, Hollister Co., Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, J. Jill, Chico’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, American Eagle) but if you win, then it’ll be free. Just log on to www.burlingtontowncenterpromotions.com until Sept. 7th for your chance to win.

On Tuesday August 19th, at 7:40 in the  morning, I will be chatting it up on the radio on the Andrew Carter show on CJAD-AM. Our topic will be back-to-school and we’re supposed to be discussing backpacks, uniforms, school supplies, etc.

Location: CJAD 800AM
Date and Time : August 19th at 7:40 am

On Saturday, I will be on the radio with Beta Wayne on CINQ-FM Radio Centreville Consumer. We will be discussing back to school clothing, deals on summer leftovers, shopping in the US, what’s happening up at Chabanel and perhaps get to some travel topics like vacation plans in the Fall and the differences between motel chains. The show will be podcast and available for a week on their website.

Location: 102.3 FM
Date and time: Aug 16, 12:30-1 pm
www.radiocentreville.com

It’s rare that (after reading all the flyers that appear each week at my door, that I get “caught” going to buy something “on sale” and it doesn’t work. Yesterday I went to my nearest Pharmaprix to pick up the eggs advertised at $1.69.
I knew that:
– The sale started on July 26th (and I waited for that date) and ends on August 8th. So I was in the right window of opportunity.
– Next, I knew that you could only buy 2, so I had 2 in my hands as I walked to the cash.
– I also knew that it was only available at certain stores. Since I knew my store had eggs, I thought I had all the exceptions covered. But alas, they got me!
Yes my store carries eggs, but my store is not a designated “food store”. So I could not buy the sale eggs in a Pharmaprix advertised in a Pharmaprix flyer even though I had them in my hot little hands. Those of you who shop there must now carefully scrutinize the flyer, perhaps take the time ahead to call (who wants to waste the gas these days?) your store (and waste the employees time instead) to make sure that the items you want to buy are allowed to be sold in that location for the sale price.
To add insult to injury, I called their customer service number: 800-746-7737 to ask about this ridiculous concept. They told me the same information. When I asked for some sort of “I’m sorry coupon” or “make the customer feel better gift”, they had nothing to offer me (I am not a card member of their club for which they would’ve offered “points”). So if you are just a member of the buying public, it’s just tough luck and go shop elsewhere (see my next blog about the nice time I had at shopping at Jean Coutu when I ran into a little snag with their sale).
Two weeks ago, they had no problem selling me the yummy tortilla chips with flax seeds at the sale price. Is that not food too?
If this bugs you too, register a complaint at www.pharmaprix.ca

I have watched many businesses transform in the twenty-three years I have been covering the shopping scene. Bouclair was a fabric and notions store that started drifting into curtains, pillows and the like. Now that hardly anyone is sewing  these days, they have chucked the fabrics out of the store and are concentrating on home accessories like: linens, towels, mirrors, wood and bamboo blinds, bamboo baskets, leather ottomans with storage, leather dining chairs ($99), tons of pillows, vases and more.

Locations: Quartier Laval,624 boulevard Le Corbusier (450-687-2620; Carrefour Laval, 3035, Boul. Le Carrefour(450-681-1862); Carrefour Laval, 2585 Daniel Johnson Blvd.(450-682-5541); 5885, boul. Robert-Bourassa (450-665-0270); Ste. Dorothée, 510 Autoroute 13 (450-969-0281); Anjou, 7250 Des Roseraies Blvd.
(514-355-4858); Vaudreuil, 3080, De la Gare Blvd.(450-455-7701); 3149-A Des Sources Blvd.(514-683-4711); Marché Central (514-384-8856); 4425 Jean-Talon Blvd. E. (514-725-9175); 11277 Lacordaire Blvd.(514-327-1113); 2101 Dollard Blvd.,Place Newman (514-365-7337).
Hours: Regular
www.bouclair.com

This is right off of a news site:

The Container Store Inc. is no longer self-contained in the U.S.

Since December, The Container Store, No. 288 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has been shipping items from its online store to Canada.

Rather than build a separate web site, the company’s web developers built an addition to the shopping cart that allows Canadian shoppers to complete a transaction using Canadian dollars.

All orders to Canada are shipped from The Container Store’s fulfillment center near Dallas to a facility operated by Canada Post Borderfree in Michigan. That facility clears the packages through customs and makes the final delivery to Canadian shoppers. “Prices, duties, taxes and shipping fees are also viewable in Canadian dollars for customers who select this check-out option on our web site,” says a Container Store spokeswoman.

In the U.S. shoppers have the option of buying online and returning any unwanted merchandise to the store for an exchange or a refund. But in Canada where The Container Store doesn’t operate any bricks-and-mortar locations, shoppers must use a pre-printed return label and ship the merchandise.

The Container Store isn’t disclosing much about its online expansion into Canada, but the company is promoting its web site in a series of direct mail pieces to Canadian shoppers, a spokeswoman says.

The Container Store joins a growing number of U.S. online retailers, including Blue Nile, Tiffany & Co., L.L. Bean Inc. and Crutchfield Corp., expanding into Canada. Canadian e-commerce spending will grow at an annual rate of 27.6% through 2011, when it will amount to C$37.2 billion (US$30.2 billion), eMarketer projects. U.S. e-retailers should benefit from that growth, because about one-third of Canadian online purchases are made at foreign sites, most of them in the United States.

www.containerstore.com