Maybe you’ve missed the billboards each spring and fall, but chances are if you have small children or are related to someone who does, you’ve heard of Duck Duck Goose. A brief tutorial: It’s an enormous, kid-centric consignment event — “sale” just doesn’t begin to describe it — held twice a year. This spring’s DDG is scheduled for March 3-5 at the Hall of Industry at the state fairgrounds. (Note to regular DDGers who might not have read that sentence carefully: the sale is NOT at the Little Rock Expo Center, as it has been in the past.) Hours are 7 a.m.-6 p.m. each day.
But back to the sale itself. Organizer Cindy Brantley, a veteran yard-saler, started it in her garage 11 years ago. “I thought, wouldn’t it be great if everybody brought their clothes to me and I got to pick first?” she said.
It’s grown insanely since then. Last fall, 1,250 families brought their (clean, neatly hung) baby and children’s clothes, plus a huge assortment of toys and baby equipment. Brantley and a small army of helpers group everything by size and gender, or by category in the case of items like strollers and cribs and toys, so it’s easy to look through. Expect to find plenty of name-brand, higher end clothes priced in the neighborhood of 25 percent of retail. (Oh, and on Saturday many items are half off.)
My sister and sister-in-law never miss it — in fact, I’m not sure my sister-in-law has bought clothes for her two rugrats anywhere else the last couple of years — and from what I understand, the selection is so good that many moms volunteer up to eight hours during the set-up week so they can qualify for early-bird passes and get first pick.
I knew all this before I talked to Brantley, but I didn’t know DDG also includes “high quality” women’s clothing. Only current-season items are accepted, so you won’t have to slog through racks full of bulky sweaters you can’t wear for another eight months.
If you’re interested in selling your own items or volunteering to get the early-bird pass, check the DDG web site, www.duckduckgoosesale.com.
Notes from the Somebody-Hide-My-Visa-Card file:
• The folks at the Cantrell Gallery tell me their remodel has turned the place into a jumbled, dusty mess, so to make up for it, they’ve put everything on sale through Monday, Feb. 28, from 15 percent to 40 percent off. From what they say, a sale of any kind is rare for them, so get while the gettin’s good.
• A Gap Outlet store opened a couple of days ago in the Pines Mall in Pine Bluff. If you’ve ever hit the outlets in Branson, you know how worth the trip it could be.
• The Design Center in the Heights, home to quirky, fun, contemporary home decor, stationery, etc. and one of my favorite stores in Central Arkansas, is celebrating its 34th anniversary March 7-12 by taking 25 percent off everything in the shop. Some items will be discounted up to 75 percent.
• An outlet store at 23rd and Arch streets for Dreamweavers, the Little Rock-based line of rugs, pillows, throws and other textile-related items, will be open once a month now through fall. The next sale is 7 a.m.-1 p.m. March 5. This is nice stuff — regularly featured in At Home in Arkansas, carried by such retailers as Norwalk and MertinsDyke Home — and from what they tell us, you better get there early and have those elbows out.

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