Kathleen, I love your new CTS goodies. I especially love the red polka dot mug. And those little turkey plates are really cute. I can't wait to see your snowman cakes. You got some great buys.

Oh Kathleen...I just finished posting on the Halloween table thread..mentioning about you going to the CTS...You did really well...I love those turkey plates and the molds..and those little tea pot mugs...Those mats are the same ones I bought last month there..and I had told you they were only $1...I too saw them for much more at Marshalls. Well, I'm glad your trip was worth all that you went through to get there...Once the word passes around, on Long Island...they will soon add more. My SIL used to drive from Poughkeepsie to the one in Danbury CT...but now they have one near her..they are popping up all over..My daughter says there are a couple in NJ, and where I used to live in NY...They are becoming more and more popular.
Well, after seeing your turkey plates, I will be heading that way this week to buy some. I bought leaf and pumpkin ones like that. They didn't have any Thanksgiving things when I was there last (2 wks ago) I guess they are putting them out now.
jane

Cute mugs--I hadn't seen any like those before--love that you can put a name on each one or a cute little message. I know you will bake something wonderful in the snowman molds. That little white cutout plate is really nice too. And so is the cute little Halloween spiderweb! Luvs

Luvs, the spider thing I had..somene gave it to me. It has a magnet on the bottom, and room for a votive in back. The heat makes it move by itself...clever, eh??

Jane, I thought of you in the placemat aisle! They only had lav, and a funky grenish left. They got wiped out, and I can see why! What colors did your store have?

And yes, I have been emailing them for 7 yrs asking when they were coming here. I spoke to the manager, and he said they will open one a little closer..45 min, but where I shop at least every other week.. Oh OH! Next year...I must start saving!
Sandi, I love the mugs too, perfect as a little take home gift filled with cookies, wrapped in cello, with a tag...I should have bought more!

kathleen, I don't recall all the colors.The grn that I bought, was a fern grn. .I do rem the lav there was a brn and a pumpkin color, which I'm sorry I didn't get. Wow Only 7 yrs! LOL > 45 mins is not a bad distance.. Set aside a coffee can for all your loose change..maybe by the time they finish that one, you'll have enough 'fun money' to play with!! LOL
jane

Kathleen, terrific buys at the new store (no CTS that I know of up here, so sad!). I LOVE those turkey plates and the great price. What a nice accent they will be for your Thanksgiving table. Your idea for using the lidded mugs as a take home gift is wonderful, you are always thinking ahead when shopping - I need to do more of that.

DD

I guess its probably a good thing, sigh, they aren't here in Phoenix. I get in enough trouble as it is.
But those turkey plates sure are neat, sigh.

hugs and happy shopping,
Karen

You did a great job. Can't believe they sold the cake mold for that price. I love all your loot and the prices. Wish they had that store by me.

Even though I like them all, my favorite is the lace plate. How nice with a couple of cookies and a cup of tea.
Betty

I mostly lurk here as I am learning from you all, but I couldnt resist jumping in here. We have a CTS 10 minutes away and I love it. I go weekly. I just picked up a huge beautiful heavy ceramic pie plate with an iron serving rack for 9.99 and a cute set of pumpkin salt & pepper shakers for 1.99. I do have to warn you... save your $$ for the after the holiday sales- everything is at least 50 to 75% and goes quick! You NEED to be there Dec 26th.

Robin

Hi Robin!
I can guarantee you I won't be there the 26th! It is over an hour from me, and I have a thing about crowds!
I have been shopping in CTS since 1990..mostly in the New England states and once in Staten Island. I LOVE it, but not enough to brave it on the 26th! I'll leave that for you!
I am going again on Fri as we will pass it on the way to see our gkids. The new flyer came out tonight and I made my list!

Glad you joined in, don't be shy!

DANG! I absolutely LOVE your finds!!!! We don't have Hobby Lobby here and we don't have Christmas Tree Shops either...GRRRRRRRRR

Great finds!! Okay, I finally have found the group I need to ask. I love, love the CTS! Finally, they are opening one close to me. My question is, is there a particular day of the week they tend to soft open before the grand opening day? Also, do they run specials for grand opening? TIA.

No, they didn't run specials here, and they don't take coupons (the new outlet mall offered lots of 20 off).
I know their ad usually comes out the last Thurs of the month. Holiday times, more often..
Happy Shopping!

Oh, and welcome...forgive me! Where are you from, Kreeks?

I live in a surburb of Buffalo, the store is in another suburb Amherst, NY.

Yes, I think Tam goes to one of them, and Kareen too...

Welcome keeks..You're up in 'cold country'..and you'll be enjoying CTS too..that's great. Will look forward to your finds.

kathleen..I've been here in NJ for the past week, at my DD's. Helping out with the GKds.. I just got a chance to go on her computer and check in.. I see you've been back there. Were you able to exchange your Pilgrim boys? I got a chance to go Sunday, before we came here, and got a few more things. There wasn't anymore pumpkin bowls :(
I did get two of the white leaf bowls though. I saw the tureen and it was really lovely and makes a nice gift.
It was a mad house. Christmas is in 'Full Swing' there, with Christmas Carols and all!! Sunday is a BAD day to go..but I had no choice. Well.. I hope I can check back in here, before I go back home Sat...
jane

Hi Jane, hope all is well with you dd!
I didn't get back yet, I was there last Fri. Maybe tomorrow or Fri.
I would never go on the weekend. I remember that from years ago when I HAD to go as that is when we would be near the one in Mass. No choice like you say! You couldn't move!!
I don't know if I saw the white leaf bowls...but now I will look!
Did you see these?

I want to get some more...

I LOVE those. I've never seen anything like them, even though I'm sure I've seen Christmas Present themed table tops before.
Wish we had a Christmas Tree Shop. You should be banned from showing anything from the CTS on this forum. It makes all us west coast people feel deprived.
OA

no kathleen I didn't see those..How beautiful... I know from experience on the Cape, that each CTS always had something a little different from each other. That's why I would drag DH to EVERY one of them..and he would hear the same complaint from other DH's about their wives doing the same thing!! lol...so I guess YOU got that something Different - that my CTS didn't have!! lol
jane

Kathleen, beautiful gift-wrapped plates, I can see why you want more. They would make a lovely table setting!
OA, we will just have to live vicariously through those that have a CTS near them! lol!

DD

Forgot...they were a dollar!

Jane, I didn't know that...thought they carried pretty much the same..
Just posted their new flyer...
Sorry OA!

A dollar? A dollar! Rub it in why don't ya.

OA, welcome to the West Coast wisher's club. We don't have Christmas Tree Stores and no Hobby Lobby either! I've been "wishing" for two years now for both of those stores to open in our area. :o(

Kathleen, those are darling little present plates and such a fantastic price too!

Luvs

You girls/guys probably girls are the best! Is this a regular CTS chat link? If not, is there a CTS good find forum? I think that is great. I feel like I should be confessing. Yes, I am a CTS addict! I used to drive an hour away to the Henrietta store in Rochester, NY. I loved when they emailed the ad a few days early so I could decide if I should take time off of work to go. I only feel it appropriate that I christen the store the very first day it opens. That is the challenging part trying to find out. They are saying 11/17 but most stores soft open before. Because my house is too small, I need to have some self control-ha, ha! My most favorite time to shop there is early spring when all the gardening supplies arrive.

Well, Keeks, it probably will be now that I have one an hour away. I started to go to them im 1990, but it was a 5 hour trip! After ds grad from college, it was a yearly pilgrimage to the one in CT or RI. Now I can go by myself. The kicker is they opened where I taught for 33 yrs, but we moved away. Probably a good thing.

I do notice they are NOT as good as they were before BB and B bought them, but still fun!

They did not soft open here, as it is part of an outlet mall, and they all opened the same day.

Ha!! ... I can back you up on that Keeks (very addicting)..but fun!! Been a CTS member since 1976..when I was just a young thing. We went to Cape Cod when I first discovered them.. We would go there for vacation every year. As I told kathleen, I would go from one to the other all over the Cape. They usually have pretty much all the same stock..but every so often I would find something different that one of the others didn't have. I got friends addicted, when they would come up to visit at the Cape.. I remember when RI opend their first out of the Cape..A friend called me to say she was in a Hotel and it was right across the street from her!! Then they Moved to Manchester, CT. We lived in NY and would drive 2 1/2 hrs from NY to go..As time went on...more and more. Now BB&BY have bought them out, and they are really popping up. So now kathleen and I have another 'Partner In Crime' to swap stories...Sorry Ladies..but I'm sure they will be coming soon near you..be patient... Also, as kathleen said they are NOT as good as they used to be since new ownership..but still worth going..
jane

Ok, all you veterans, I have a question. Since the closest CTS was an hour away last year I never paid attention to the black friday deals. I want to say it may have been a coupon if you got there before a certain time. Do they ever put their ads in the newspaper. While on the subject, I assume 12/26 it is 50 off Christmas? I know last year it went to 90 on 1/8. Any idea when it went to 75? Because I work full time, it is hard for me to know when to take some time off. TIA.

Oh, by the way the best info I got was that CTS was set to open Monday the 17th, however it opened Sunday. Luckily, I decided to call around noon to find out it was open. The store seemed a little smaller than the Henrietta one I was used to. Not that I am complaining but it was just an observation. I managed to buy my fair share to get the store off to a good opening day! I was surprised to see some things already marked down.

Keeks, hope you will share some pics of your finds with us. We like to shop vicariously through each other's pics! LOL Sure wish we had a CTS out here. (big sigh) Luvs

Cheer up Luvs, we don't have one either :^(
Welcome Keeks....glad to have you at the table with us....I'm the only person here excused from showing pictures, so we will be looking for some pictures of your goodies! ;^)

Well, since I work fulltime and have twin boys and a husband to contend with, I will tell you some of my finds until I can snap a picture. Some of my highlights include:

Memory foam insoles 1.99-gifts
Yankees keychain 1.00-gift
Large christmas tray 1.00-great for cookies or desert
Popcorn/movies theme gift set 6.99-gift
Laser Scissors 3.99
9x12 casserole bag 4.99-keeps hot stuff hot, cold stuff cold
shake flashlight 2.99-no batteries, one shake lasts 100 min
cosmetic organizer 2.99-really useful
claydough ornaments sports shapes 1.00
diffuser 2.99-gifts
different diffuser 3.99-gifts
bamboo uplight 6.99-very nice
twisted tie dye kit-tie dye without the mess-gift
4pc ceramic mixing bowl set 9.99-purple, blue & greens-nice

The best part is that someone gave me a friends & family coupon for 20% off and the day they opened was the last day for the coupon.

You did well, thanks for remembering to come back!
I still have my coupon, I have to check the date!

I was there today...I do know that from time to time people will show up w/a coupon that they say came from the Sunday Times...I never got one :( I think they start the 75 off soon after each holiday ends. I think it's because they are setting out the next holdiay items. I've gone a day or two After Christmas, and they start w/ Valentine's Day things. Today, there Fall things(not TGiving) were 75% off. Oh, and they had a Nice Resin Turkey Centerpiece for $12.99. If someone wanted to stain it brown..that could easily be done. :)
jane

Jay, and your excuse note is only good till Chrsitmas...then you have the camera!