14 Famous Sales
Worth Waiting For
Previous-
Where the Real Deals Are
There are sales, and then there are SALES. Some annual (or semi-annual) sales are so popular -- and the payoff is so huge -- that consumers wait all year long to snap up their favorite brands and coveted products on the cheap.
WalletPop bloggers give you the inside scoop on which bargain-hunting events live up to the hype.
Which Sales Did We Miss?
Share Your Favorite Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 1More Popular Features:
-
Mark Lennihan, AP
Filene's Basement
Sale: 'Running of the Brides'
Location: Flagship is in Boston, Mass. (Also in N.Y., Ga., Va. and Ohio)
When: Varies per location, typically in February or March.
Why It's Worth the Wait:
First held in 1947, The Basement's Bridal Gown sale has become a tradition among brides-to-be who mob the store in search of designer wedding gowns at ridiculous prices. Dresses worth thousands can be had for as little as $249. See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 2More Popular Features:
-
Kiichiro Sato, AP
Victoria's Secret
Sale: Semi-annual sale
When: Each year in January and May
Why It's Worth the Wait:
The store brings out its signature pink bins and fills them with items up to 70% off. Keep in mind that the sale can start online almost a full month before hitting the bricks & mortar stores.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 3More Popular Features:
-
Scott Olson, Getty Images
Nordstrom's
Sale: Annual anniversary sale
When: Last two weeks of July
Why It's Worth the Wait:
Savings up to 40% draw hordes of bargain-loving summer shoppers. The sale also extends to its online catalog, Nordstrom.com. Even greater deals are available on leftovers at Nordstrom's Rack Stores, where unloved goods go for a song.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 4More Popular Features:
-
Michel Porro, Getty Images
IKEA
Sale: Annual sale
When: Late July to early August
Why It's Worth the Wait:
The prices are pretty reasonable on most things and discounts can occasionally be found in the room where returned goods are kept (though they are sometimes damaged) year-round. But anyone looking for serious bargains has to wait for the once a year sale in late July to early August when stores knock 20 to 60% off selected merchandise. See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 5More Popular Features:
-
Scott Olson, Getty Images
Williams-Sonoma
Sale: Semi-annual blowout sale
When: January and June
Why It's Worth the Wait:
Twice a year, the high-end purveyor of quality cookware slashes its prices on selected items by 50% -- even 75% -- off, making sometimes unaffordable items, well, affordable.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 6More Popular Features:
-
Hammacher Schlemmer | AP
Hammacher Schlemmer
Sale: "Rather Famous" annual sale
When: Oddly, this "annual" sale is held several times a year
Why It's Worth the Wait:
The oldest continuously-published catalog in the U.S. offers many of its unique items for up to 65% off. If you were hoping for a water-repellent goat suede blazer or an Italian Merino ruffled cape -- these sales may be you chance to snap up some pretty unusual stuff.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 7More Popular Features:
-
Garnet Hill
Garnet Hill
Sale: Post-Holiday sale
When: January
Why It's Worth the Wait:
This catalog merchant holds a great post-holiday sale and carries a wide line of impressive goods. It offers women's and children's clothing and household items from linens to furniture. During the sale, a wide selection of its products are available at savings ranging up to 75% off. Garnet Hill offers e-mail sale alerts to clue you in to upcoming bargain opportunities.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 8More Popular Features:
-
AP
Hot Topic
Sale: Half-off clearance items
When: Usually in early spring and late summer
Why It's Worth the Wait:
A couple of times a year, Hot Topic puts all of its clearance items on a half-price sale. Unfortunately, these sales are usually not announced until the absolute last minute; in fact, the store employees aren't even told about them until the day before the sale begins.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 9More Popular Features:
-
Richard Drew, AP
Brooks Brothers
Sale: Preferred Customer sale
When: January and June
Why It's Worth the Wait:
The suits normally cost a minor royalty's ransom -- the Golden Fleece two-button pinstripe, for example, retails for $1,600. However, the company's semi-annual sales knocks 25% off of much of its stock. If you open a Brooks Brothers credit account at that time, you can bump this discount up to 33%.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 10More Popular Features:
-
Menards
Menards
Sale: Fit-in-a-bag sale
When: Possibly August
Why It's Worth the Wait:
In this promotion, Menards sends full-sized grocery bags out with a sales flier. Shoppers can fill them with whatever they wish, (subject to restrictions) and items in the bag are then discounted by a percentage (which varies from sale to sale, but last August's was 15%) off the normal price of the items in the bag. A Menards spokesman declined to confirm the sale. See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 11More Popular Features:
-
Andrew H. Walker, Getty Images
Henri Bendel
Sale: Semi-annual sale
When: January and late August
Why It's Worth the Wait:
Twice a year even the grand dame of New York elegance marks down goods in order to clear the way for the latest runway hits. In late August and January, savvy shoppers from all over the country find their way to the mansions to score clothes, accessories and some cosmetics to carry home in Bendel's trademark white and brown striped bag.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 12More Popular Features:
-
Kathy Willens, AP
Manolo Blahnik
Sale: Sample shoe sale
When: Possibly in May and November
Why It's Worth the Wait:
If you want to get $500 shoes, for say, $100, you'll have to keep on your toes. The sale is never announced until just a few days before the event. Usually, they are on any given day in May and November, but in 2004, they had a sale in the month of February; earlier this year, they had one in January.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 13More Popular Features:
-
Biasion Studios, WireImage.com
Vera Wang
Sale: Sample/clearance sale
When: Late November
Why It's Worth the Wait:
Wang's fashions can be also be found in Saks, Nieman-Marcus and Marshall Fields, but only in NYC does this killer deal take place. Past sales have found shoppers fighting over gowns and using aisles as dressing rooms to score 75% off of Wang's dresses that cost up to $10,000.
· See More on This Sale
Next: Top Sale No. 14More Popular Features:
-
historicbyway
Lincoln Highway
Multi-State Yard SaleSale: BUY-WAY Yard Sale
When: August 7-9, 2008
Why It's Worth the Wait:
If you want to find your bargains in a more interesting manner, check out the longest yard sale in America. It stretches out from West Virginia to Illinois along the Lincoln Highway (old U.S. 30 in most places).
· See More on This Sale
More on AOL: Stores Closing DoorsMore Popular Features:
-
Shahrzad Elghanayan, AP
Retail Stores Closing Doors
Over the last couple of months, there has been a flurry of announcements from retailers that they are closing stores, slowing expansion plans or ceasing operations altogether.
From Sharper Image and CompUSA to Macy's and Ethan Allen, we round up more than 20 retailers that are closing (at least some) of their doors. Are some of them your favorites?
· See 23 Stores in Trouble
More on AOL: Bye-Bye BrandsMore Popular Features:
-
Mary Altaffer, AP
Brands That Will Disappear
Several brands which were extremely powerful during the last few decades are about to disappear. Many of them no longer drive big sales. Some are a part of companies that are in trouble. Some are part of industries which are falling apart. Here is a list of brands, most over them a decade old, and some much older, which are likely to go away in the next year or two.
· Say Goodbye to These Brands
More on AOL: Busiest DaysMore Popular Features:
-
More on AOL:
The Busiest Day of the Year for ...
If you order a few pies each Superbowl Sunday, you proably already know to order early! Each year, Pizza Hut handles 2.5 million calls on "Big Game" day, making it their busiest day of the year. (Halloween trails right behind as the second busiest for most pizzerias.)
Click through our gallery to see 19 more "busiest days." Some of them may surprise you!
Click Link Below to See Gallery:
The Busiest Day of the Year for ...More Money & Finance:
BUSINESS NEWS
INVESTING
- Stock Quotes
- Stock Charts
- Stock Ticker
- Portfolio
- Stock Screener
- Broker Center
- Mutual Fund Center
- ETF Center
- Money
- 24/7 Wall St.
PERSONAL FINANCE
- Banking
- Personal Finance Advice Center
- WalletPop
- Finance Calculators
- Credit Cards
- Credit Reports
- Debt Management
- Identity Theft
- Insurance
- Interest Rates
- Finance Community
- Money Coach
- Loans
- Mortgages
- Retirement
- Specials
- Taxes
- Bill Pay
SMALL BUSINESS
Recent Comments
cvjj187 08:18:51 PM May 11 2008
The liberals won't be HAPPY UNTILL OUR GAS IS 8 BUCK A GALLION:" AND MOST OF IT IN TAXES................
CSIMONTON17 08:16:13 PM May 11 2008
I think the lax south of the border issue is to over time get SO many illegals here that we will as a country take over the Mexican government and the country and make it a part of the USA at some point. This will make us advantagious to take the oil of that country which is plenty. Follow the money.
cvjj187 08:15:29 PM May 11 2008
Try thier health care system:::::""""""""YOU WAITTTTTTTT.......
FVOLITAN 07:26:30 PM May 11 2008
JUST A THOUGHT
Can someone look into THE OIL PROBLEM. Why can't we drill for OIL . Build Nuclear Plants,Build Storage for the Nuclear waste or just send it into space. Build refineries. Partner with Mexico to do some of these things, might help with the border problem. STOP USING CORN AS A FUEL. Its a food product. Look what has happened to the price of food .How can anyone STOP THE MADNESS. When no one is talking about it. SIMPLE bring down oil prices at all costs . Everything else will fall into place.
Thank you for your time Frank Englert Just a lonely voice
FVOLITAN 07:23:40 PM May 11 2008
JUST A THOUGHT
Can someone look into THE OIL PROBLEM. Why can't we drill for OIL . Build Nuclear Plants,Build Storage for the Nuclear waste or just send it into space. Build refineries. Partner with Mexico to do some of these things, might help with the border problem. STOP USING CORN AS A FUEL. Its a food product. Look what has happened to the price of food .How can anyone STOP THE MADNESS. When no one is talking about it. SIMPLE bring down oil prices at all costs . Everything else will fall into place.
Thank you for your time Frank Englert Just a lonely voice
RockenL 06:43:42 PM May 11 2008
If we as so low on fuel then why do they export so much?
JUNGLE1700 06:36:39 PM May 11 2008
Sue Rott 06:20:13 PM May 11 2008
Report This!
As it stands now. I for one will not be voting this fall. I have seen some crooked elections going all the way back to Phonix City Ala in the fifties. Now the elections are controlled by computers and the Media and the vote of all people are not counted. In book stores you can find two voo doo dolls but not the third one. Nothing but bad mouthing from the media on the female but praise on the other. I pray I live to see a female in the Oval Office.
Females are still not equal to the Good Old Boys Club.
==========================================================
Its still a mans world all right. Hillary found out if you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen. Maybe she would do better in Obama's white house kitchen.
Sue Rott 06:20:13 PM May 11 2008
As it stands now. I for one will not be voting this fall. I have seen some crooked elections going all the way back to Phonix City Ala in the fifties. Now the elections are controlled by computers and the Media and the vote of all people are not counted. In book stores you can find two voo doo dolls but not the third one. Nothing but bad mouthing from the media on the female but praise on the other. I pray I live to see a female in the Oval Office.
Females are still not equal to the Good Old Boys Club.
LaFond56 05:28:46 PM May 11 2008
People need to wise up! Look at a map of a European country and then look at a map of the US. Would you really enjoy being cramped up in a subcompact for a few hundred miles to see your mom on mothers' day? I wouldn't think so. Most Europeans don't have to drive that far. And then there's the European public/mass transportation. You really don't have to drive yout car to your mom's house, take a train or a bus (or both). Outside of big cities, how's the US public transportation? ANd then there's the question of what Congress has been doing for the last 30 years to alleviate our dependence on foreign oil. Stop and think America.
