On Location: NYC Discount Shopping Guide

For anyone heading for The Big Apple this holiday season, shopping can be both economical and fun. Here are some of our favorite haunts:

• Sample sales.  Go online and find out which manufacturers are having sample sales, which typically run for a few days or a week.  You can snare a big ticket item for a fraction of the retail price. One of our favorite perennial sample sale destinations is Clothingline, which operates sales for major manufacturers about 40 weeks a year. Located at heart of the garment center at W. 36th between 7th Ave. and 8th Ave., they can be counted on to have amazing deals on designers such as Theory, Tory Burch, Helmut Lang and Milly. Check out their web site for updated information on the latest sales: http://clothingline.com/

• Daffy's.  With locations in New York as well as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you cannot beat Daffy's for phenomenal fashion. Lots of imports from Italy and lovely houseware finds. The store was founded upon the motto, "clothing bargains for millionaires," and has 40-80 percent off designer clothes every day.

• Century 21.  No, not the realtors. This Century 21 is a discount department store offering up to 65 percent off retail, 100 percent of the time. Now celebrating their 50th anniversary, this store has expanded in recent years beyond their original New York and Brooklyn locations and can now be found in Long Island and New Jersey as well. They have even launched an exclusive online members-only shopping site featuring private designer sales. Membership is free at c21stores.com.  

• H&M: Sadly, living in Southwest Florida, we miss shopping at H&M, a super, awesome megastore, with 100,000 pieces of affordable clothing.  Like Target, H&M is known for their awesome designer collaborations; for instance, you can snare a silk skirt for $70 done by Versace for H&M.  The store receives fresh shipments every day so if you failed to find what you wanted (which would be hard to fathom), just try again tomorrow!
  

• Fox's: If you are in the Big Apple, it is worth a trip to Brooklyn, Queens or Long Island to visit this off-price discount mecca. They have been in business for over 20 years and subscribe to the motto: "Catch the thrill of a great buy."  The Mineola, LI, location is conveniently located walking distance from the Long Island Rail Road stop.  If you make the trip to Mineola, you will enjoy not just one, but two, Fox's destinations, since the store operates a separate discount shoe store across the street from the clothing outlet. If you are not making it to New York any time soon, the chain has expanded to include locations in Illinois (Skokie, Chicago, Oakbrook Terrace), Florida (Aventura, Boca Raton), Georgia (Atlanta), New Jersey (Marlboro, Ridgewood, Whippany) and Connecticut (Stamford).