I don’t know how long Circuit City’s creditors have given them to liquidate their assets and pay off what they can, but they don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry.
Which is good for the thousands of employees who’ll lose their jobs when the doors close. But if you’re looking for a deal on a TV or Wii game or some other pricy piece of electronics, you’re going to have to cool your heels for awhile.
The initial set of discounts is 10 percent off all the good stuff, including video games; 20 percent off DVDs and CDs; and 30 percent off a few unexciting categories like camera accessories, cables and TV wall mounts. So it is worth going now if you have some specific movies or CDs you want and know you can’t get cheaper online. (We stocked up on Sesame Street, the Muppets, School House Rock and the Justice League, and will probably go back for some of Pixar’s greatest hits and/or future birthday/Christmas gifts for family members before the selection gets too picked over.) But if you’re in the market for a new TV or digital camera, you’re probably better off watching for a doorbuster somewhere else. They do have a good stock of Guitar Hero kits, though, so if you didn’t get one for Christmas, 10 percent off might be a decent deal.
Other notes:
Back before Christmas, I raved about the dollar bins near the entrance doors at Target. I’ve found something similar that makes me just as happy, and probably has more consistent inventory: The “Under $5” aisle at Michael’s. Chock full of $1 sets of Disney Princess pencils and High School Musical notepads and other assorted toys that will please boys too. My absolute favorite of the bunch, though, is the line of Creatology 3D wooden puzzles. You punch the pieces out of thin wooden boards, and they fit together to make three-dimensional dinosaurs, trains, ships, animals, insects, you name it. And all of them under $5. They look like tons of fun.
This is kind of random, but I’ve always been kind of a nut for the school supplies aisle, so bear with me. Vanness, the strange-but-wonderful pen/cake-decorating shop that’s now in the Market Place Shopping Center, now carries Rhodia notebooks. If anyone else in Central Arkansas has them, I haven’t noticed it. They’re produced in France, and their particular allure is the quality of the paper and the bright orange or black covers that are scored at the top so they fold back over when you open them up. (More details at www.exaclair.com.)Vanness has a great selection, everything from pocket-sized notepads to full-size spiral notebooks. Some are made with graph paper. They cost anywhere from about $4 to about $15. If you share my slightly OCD love of well-made paper and pens, they’re worth checking out.
Limited Too is now open at the Promenade at Chenal, and the Web site says Ann Taylor Loft will be opening Feb. 23. Still no date for DSW, sorry.
Sephora will be opening a location at Park Plaza this spring. No firm date yet.
News? Tips? Upcoming sales?
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