Bye, Bye Blue Light Special

Earlier in the summer, Kmart announced that it planned to close our local store.  This decision didn’t surprise me, but did cause me great anguish, seeing as how not only was the store a honey hole of inventory at times, but also it was my go-to place during my lunch break (walking laps around the huge store was quicker and better than going to a gym); a Thanksgiving location for cheap 2-liter Pepsi bottles; and a post-Christmas stop for half-price wrapping paper and decorations.



Kmart tried to get rid of everything on Sunday

Sunday marked the store’s final day, and Ella and I spent four hours (yes, four hours) finding bargains that only got better as the day progressed.  Women’s and children’s apparel was already at 90 percent off, and Ella spent much of the time in the dressing room trying on $.50 to $1.00 outfits.  I walked around the store, picking up odds and ends, and watching the jewelry department, which was at 80 percent off, a real bargain that was going to get better.  I also tried to talk myself into buying two gallons of Little Caesars Crazy Bread Sauce ($27.00) from the closed location inside the store, but I couldn’t figure out what to do with that much sauce by the December expiration date.

 

Around 1 p.m., Kmart announced that the ladies in the jewelry department wanted to go home, and that all jewelry was at 95 percent off.  I made a beeline for the counter, along with most everyone else in the store.  When the overwhelmed clerk finally got to me, I looked through the display case, saw the leftover gemstone necklace and earring sets (regular price $99, sale price $4.95) and the remaining body piercing sets (regular prices $19.99 to $24.99, sale prices $.39 to $1.25), and told the clerk that I wanted all of them.  In the meantime, Ella had picked out several pairs of earrings and an earring/necklace set (regularly prices $399+, sale prices roughly $15 each).

My cost for 68 pieces of jewelry was $199.63.  Total savings, as can be seen on the receipt, was a crazy $3557.75.

 

The rest of the items in our cart, consisting mostly of Ella’s clothes, rang up at 95 percent off as well.  It was both amazing and sad at the same time.

 

Before leaving, we also purchased a rotating, lockable jewelry display case ($55) for our antique booth to go along with our rolling shelf system ($100) that we had picked up on Saturday.

 

Speaking of Saturday, Ella and I rushed to a local mega-church’s adoption fundraiser sale before 7 a.m., only to find a fellow thrifter already on site working the tables.  A few minutes later, our main competition for media showed up.  For a while, we were all stumbling over each other looking for bargains.  Finally, though, Ella and I were the last ones there, and we found a few overlooked treasures, and some great items for our booth.

 

The rest of the morning was hit and miss, mostly miss, but we did find enough to make the time worthwhile.

 

Later in the day, we worked our two antique booths, watched “A Million Ways to Die in the West” on DVD (don’t waste your money), then paid too much to walk through a local haunted trail.  The trail was well done and spooky, but the organizers needed a bigger cast of monsters.

 

As for today, I hope everyone is having a good Columbus Day, and remember that the post office is closed in commemoration of Christopher's arrival in the Americas.