Shopko Shopping Scores

It's no secret that I love to get a great deal. I love to be complimented on home decor or an outfit and tell that person about the clearance deal or garage sale that it's from. It's the thrill of the hunt!

So when I had to pick up a few things tonight, I thought I might pop into our local Shopko and see if they had what I needed. If you've never heard of this place, it looks like they're only in 13 states, so chances are you might not have one around you. They're a interesting mix of what I can only describe as a Kmart/Sears, with maybe a little Big Lots thrown in, with a Meijer or Walmart type mix. I have actually talked about them before here on the blog too, here.

I popped in, grabbed what I needed to grab (the Scent Killer spray and wipes) and then started to cruise the clearance. The clearance is never in one place, it's all over, often on the end caps but in the aisle too, with bright yellow stickers hanging off, so it's pretty easy to spot.

Now when Meijer goes to clearance, I find myself often saying "That's the clearance price?" or even at Kohl's, they used to go to a super-deep discount but either I never get there at the right time, or it's not what it used to be. But when Shopko goes to clearance, they're not afraid to go to 90% off. And because my town is pretty small, it's usually not picked over and there's plenty to go around.

Enough talking... let's get to the haul, shall we?!

You'll have to excuse the crappy lighting, as it was already getting dark (boo) by the time I got home. But, there is 34 items here. Can you guess how much I paid?

$150?
Nope...

$75?
Nah...

How about... 34 items for $42.88 including tax?
Seriously!

Here's the breakdown.

Iams Mini-Chunk Dog Food
This is the kind that we like to feed Jay, a good mid-to upper grade food.
Original Price: $10.49
Clearance: $5.49
I paid: $4.41

Q-tips, qty 500
Exciting stuff, eh? We needed them, so I grabbed them.
Original Price: $2.99
I paid: $2.40

Fiskars Fiberglass Nylon Gardening Trowel
Season is nearly over, but they'll be great for next season.
Original Price: $3.99
Clearance: $.39
I paid: $.31 (yes, 31 cents!)

Fiskars Fiberglass Nylon Gardening Spade
Original Price: $3.99
Clearance: $.39
I paid: $.31 (yes, 31 cents!)

Miracle-Gro Liquafeed Universal Feeder
It attaches to your hose, and then evenly disperses the Miracle-Gro to your plants or grass via the hose or sprinkler. Included the liquid Miracle-Gro.
Original Price: $24.99
Clearance: $2.49
I paid: $2.00

3 Pack of Microwave Popcorn
Original Price: $1.00
I paid: $.80

3 Pack Always Maxi Sampler
Original Price: $?? I want to say it was a $1.00
Clearance: $.50
I paid: $.40

Tampax Pearl Compact 40 ct. Assortment
Original Price: $8.49
Clearance: $.84
I paid: $.68 (yes, 68 cents!)

16 count K-Cup Hot Chocolate
Gotta have this going into winter!
Original Price: $12.99
Clearance: $3.89
I paid: $3.13

Scent Killer Spray
Original Price: $12.99
Sale: $11.69
I paid: $9.40

ScentKiller Wipes
Original Price: $5.99
Sale: $5.39
I paid: $4.33

12 Sticks of Maybelline Baby Lips Balm in 3 colors
What does one need with 12 sticks of lipstick? I'll resell them. I looked them up and they go for $13.99 for a lot of 2 with free shipping. So... I'll most likely be able to pay off the entire trip with the resale of these. :)
Original Price: $4.99
Clearance: $.44
I paid: $.35 (yes, .35 cents!)

One cost $1.07, I paid .86.
 
If I can't pay off the trip with the lipsticks, I am going to try with these video games I picked up for resale too!

Game Party something or other?... for the XBOX 360










Original Price: $19.99
Clearance: $1.99
I paid: $1.60

Epic Mickey for the Wii
Original Price: $19.99
Clearance: $1.99
I paid: $1.60

2 Bottles of Marinade
I don't know what these were originally, but I paid .40 after all was said and done per bottle.

2 Bottles of Worchestershire Sauce
Same here! Only .40 per bottle so I should be set for quite a long time as I pretty much only use it for cooking.

5 Cans of diced green chiles
I make a pretty killer White Chicken Chili (recipe here) and it calls for green chiles, which I never seem to have on hand. Well, now I will for at least 5 pots of it! I paid .64 a can (.71 for one of them, I think it's how my coupon balanced out).

Shopko had sent me a coupon, $10 off $50 for my birthday, which I was able to pull up on my phone before checking out. Can you believe it?
 

 

And no, I wasn't compensated in anyway by Shopko or anyone... I just had to share my excitement! Tell me about your best score! 
 
Thanks for reading!

 

 

It's Pinspired Friday {Look for Less #2}

It's Pinspired Friday! TGIF!

Taylor Swift seems to be able to pull off just about any look, especially those highly polished, preppy and pretty looks. This one popped up on my Pinterest feed, and I was inspired to find the look for less. :)

The site the image came from didn't come with the price tag for that outfit, but it's safe to say it's probably not under $100. My version just happens to be! Of course, take it with a grain of salt - my prices don't include shipping, taxes, etc. Get Taylor Swift's look for only $71.99.

Look for Less #2 by hargrovk featuring black sunglasses

Black dress
genuine-people.com - $17

City Classified black shoes
lulus.com - $18

ALDO black purse
aldoshoes.com - $25

Black sunglasses
lucluc.com - $8.99

Moisturizing lipstick
eyeslipsface.com - $3

Cool Finds: A Spectaular Spectacle Case

It's no secret that I love antiques, and that I love to find the story behind them. Read about my wooden duck with a story to tell here.

In recent treasure hunting, Mama LOC and I happened upon this spectacular spectacle specimen (okay, I'll stop!)

Enter this gorgeous silvertoned, metal eyeglass case.

Beautiful, eh! The metal feels light, perhaps like a tin. The inside is lined with a blue velvet, and that logo! It's some sort of a die-cut, super thin metal. Except for a hint of tarnishing, it's not bent up, and smooth.

Inside as well was a cleaning cloth. I love vintage advertising, and this is no exception. A salmon-y pink, it says:

"Eyes Examined, Glasses Fitted, Orthoptic Treatments
If at anytime your glasses need adjusting, bring them in and we will be pleased to do it free of Charge.
W. Vernon Glendening
Optometrist
1838 Ferry Park Avenue
Near 12th St.
One block south of West Grand Boulevard
Detroit, Michigan"

Left side says:
"Office hours:
9 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Mon. Wed. and Fri.
evenings to 8 P.M.
By Appointment, Phone Trinity 2-0473"

Included also was a small hair comb, but I doubt it was original to the case.

So now I needed to find a way to date it. Unfortunately, very little on the Internet exists for a quick search on W. Vernon Glendening, but I did find a few things.

1. The Optical Journal and Review of Optometry - Dated January 5, 1922.

In a slightly later edition of this volume,  W. Vernon Glendening is mentioned a few times.
On January 28th, his application to join the Detroit Society of Optometrists is received:

 And on February 25th, he receives his membership.

In yet another later edition of this volume, he attends a convention, March 22.

2. The Blue Book of Optometrists, dated 1958. 

The Blue Book of Optometrists, from what I can best decipher, is a "who's who" or a record of all the Optometrists in the United States, sorted by states, similar to a telephone book. By switching my search in Google to W.V. Glendening, we get the listing above.

Unfortunately... the trail goes cold here. Google couldn't find any other mentioning of him, not even an obituary - but keep in mind, if he's practicing Optometry and is admitted into a society in 1922, and there is still a record of him practicing in 1958, 36 years after his admittance, he would have been deceased before any modern Internet.

Making a big assumption here, but if he is born in let's say, 1896, he is admitted to a society at age 26 (I am unsure the typical entrance age of these societies), and in 1958 is 62 years old. This leads me to another clue.

3. "12th Street"
"Near Twelfth Street" in Detroit, Michigan is where this office is. Deserving of a whole other story in itself, the Riot of 1967 broke out, which has been heralded as the beginning of the "end" for Detroit. Policemen raided an after-hours drinking establishment, arresting over 80 people. While waiting for the "paddywagons" to come take these people away, the crowd that gathered, seething from tensions between the police and the community, a riot broke out, beginning as a brawl in the street. It didn't just end with a brawl. 44 people died, 1000 were injured, and over 7,000 were arrested. The National Guard was called in, with tanks and more. The President at the time, Lyndon B. Johnson went on TV to tell the nation that Detroit was out of control. It was a very bad time for Detroit. This website is a fascinating first-person view of the 1967 Riot, if you're interested.

What does this have to do with Twelfth Street? What does this have to do with our Optometrist? In 1967, Twelfth Street was documented as being a thriving business district with a substantial population. In 1958, we know W. Vernon Glendening is still in business, although we don't know for how much longer. Using the math from earlier, if we estimate he was born in roughly 1896, in 1967 he would be 71 years old.

The Michigan Daily newspaper out of Ann Arbor, on October 16, 1975 writes about a coming name change for Twelfth Street.

And jump they did - later on in 1976, Twelfth Street is changed to Rosa Parks Blvd. If our Optometrist is born in 1896, in 1976, he is 80 years old, most probably not in business any longer, if not possibly deceased. So, we definitely know that the case is older than 1976. (yes, the style already kind of tells me that, I know. We're getting there. :))

4. Detroit
Detroit is notorious and unfortunately, synonymous with ruin.
As a fellow Michigander, the ruin of Detroit is incredibly unfortunate.
Using Google's wonderful satellite imagery, and the ability to "walk" the street, I can see that the address, 1838 Ferry Park Ave. is still there.

But when I zoom in - a grocery store, which appears to be abandoned now sits where once was a optometrist, giving out this very eyeglass case and eyeglass cleaning cloth to someone who wanted to keep their vision safe and sound. Times change, of course, but it does make you wonder how places come to be.

Little pieces like this eyeglass case give us clues and hints to a different time, a way to "see" back to perhaps, a better time in a city's history.


5. Style
The style of the case, plus the date tells us it's before the 70's. The case itself is very thin - nearly only .5" tall. This tells us that it's not from the 50's or 60's, where large, horn-rimmed glasses were popular.

We know that in the early 40's, that there were scrap metal drives for the war effort. A quick Google search does not show many, if nearly any cases that were metal. This can mean one of two things a) this case is from the 30's or b) this case was not donated for the war effort. Tsk! ;)

The logo is stylized, with an Art Deco feel - it is streamlined and geometric. The Art Deco period also saw materials used like chrome and stainless steel - a distinct possibility for this metal.

This would also be about the right time period for him and his business if we're going with being born in 1896 - if in 1935 he is 39 years old, his business is established and doing well enough to procure these stylized cases and cloths.

So, by process of elimination, and with the other clues here, I can say with some confidence that this case is from 1930 to maybe 1940.

With some certainty, I can say that this case *puts sunglasses on*... is closed. (YEAAAAAHHH)

I hope you enjoyed this little tour through the history of this eyeglass case! It is available in my Etsy store, along with other "relics" of our past. Thanks for reading!

For Sale, Here

Psst - Know something I don't here? I definitely am not an expert and don't claim to be one, so if you see anything you can verify or lend a hand to, please let me know!

Start of Summer SALE!

It's a sale!

I'm marking the beginning of summer with bargains! Both the eBay and Etsy store are on sale today. 

SAVE $10 for every $50 you spend in my eBay store. No coupon code needed! 

 http://stores.ebay.com/littleoakcreations

SAVE 10% in the Etsy store, use code summerfun1! NOW until 6/13/15!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/littleoakcreations 

Speaking of... are you following me on social media? If not, "like" my page and follow me on Instagram and Pinterest to be the first to know about my sale events!

 https://instagram.com/liloakcreations/

https://www.pinterest.com/liloakcreations/

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Oak-Creations/122459557903795

Happy shopping! :)