Friday, June 22, 2007

Orufs Road - Part II

LeChateau - almost everyone can find something here to add to their summer wardrobe, thanks to sizing from XXS-XXL. Give yourself at least an hour to peruse the endless racks of dresses, both casual and formal, cute tops, flirty skirts and fun t-shirts plus shoes, shoes and more shoes. Once you've picked out a new summer outfit, take a look at their wall (yes, wall) of accessories before heading to the check-out. They also carry men’s clothing and their LeChateau Jr. line.

Kitchen Stuff Plus - it's big, really big. Not as big as the one at Kennedy Commons, but it's big. A great place to pick up fun, affordable stuff for the kitchen, bath or patio. They also carry some furniture, such as end tables, ottomans and dining room tables and chairs. Paper napkins are priced at $10/3pkgs and tissue at $5/3pkgs. With all the colours and designs they had, it was difficult to narrow my purchase down to just three each.
Summer Sidewalk Sale on Saturday, September 29th - it's the final one of the year (rain date Sat Oct 6th).

Fairweather - What can I say, this is a store full of cute summer clothes. They have lots of items priced at 2/$20 or 2/$30.

Labels - This store was supposed to give Winners a run for its money, but hasn't. The location on Orfus Road is a bit disappointing at first. When I started looking through the merchandise I thought the store should be renamed "The Discount Outlet for Isaac Mizrahi's Fairweather Line" as that is what 75% of the stock is. If you're willing to make your way to the very back of the store, you will find other designer name clothing at greatly reduced prices. Names such as Nine West, Jones New York, Delicious, Kenneth Cole, Buffalo, Dex, Lady Dutch, Mexx and Louben can be found on these racks. The outlet carries both men's and ladies clothing.

Roots - This is one store you should never plan on finding something specific in or you will be sorely disappointed. The best approach to take is the "I'll just stop in and see if there's any good deals happening", then you will likely hit the jackpot. My favourite thing is digging through the tables of clothing to find those hidden gems. I lucked out recently and found some great yoga/exercise tops for $7 each. I also ran across a burgundy corduroy skirt reduced all the way down to $4.99! This outlet carries men's, women's and children's clothing. And don't worry if you're not the type who likes to put some effort into bargain hunting, a lot of the stock is hung up or neatly stacked on shelves.

Snugabye - Not actually located on Orfus Rd, but around the corner and just past the next light, at the intersection of Caledonia Rd and Bentworth Ave. This outlet used to be quite large in size and stuffed full of stock but they have considerably shrunk their store space. Snugabye is famous for their convert-a-foot sleepers and this is the place to buy them (as opposed to paying the mark-up in a department store). There is a wide variety of cute sleepers and pajamas to choose from. They also carry outfits, socks, sweats and some crib bedding and blankets. Sizes range from newborn to size 3.

There are many other stores on Orfus Road, too many to mention in any detail. Here is a list of other places to check out: Strada Italy Menswear, Grande Cheese Factory Outlet, Body'n'Sole, Nine West, Urban Behaviour (they have both a men's and women's outlet), Emmanuel Bitini, Ponti Designer Menswear, The Suit Exchange, Stitches, Bowring, Sirens, The Shopping Channel, Windsor Bridal, Costa Blanca, Pinstripe Menswear, International Clothiers (men's and boy's outlets).