Not so strange, actually. They have to sell out store fronts, storage rooms and the warehouse...not to mention anything that's already on order from suppliers. Notice the article below says "third-party firm," meaning they've already hired a liquidating company to handle the closing. When Shabby Chic decided to close, the stores were open for 3-6 months before doors closed. S&H will start closing some faster than others (depending on lease, sells and location). The store employees won't know about further discounts until the liquidator tells them - usually the day before another mark down. It will be done on a store-by-store basis, for the most part. Here is an article emailed to us from the Birmingham Business Journal on Thursday: Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. announced plans to shut down its 56-store Smith & Hawken chain by the end of the year. The chain has a store at The Summit in Birmingham. Jim Hagedorn, CEO of the Marysville, Ohio-based lawn and garden giant, said in a statement that "the combination of a weak economy and the lack of scale proved too great to overcome." For a year, Scotts had been exploring options for the high-end garden brand it bought in 2004 for $68.5 million but decided closing the business was the "best option available," Hagedorn said. Smith & Hawken is based in Novato, Calif. Scotts on Wednesday said storewide sales across the chain will begin Thursday and will be managed by a third-party firm. Orders on Smith & HawkenÂs Web site, catalog and call center will be discontinued Thursday. The company in its last annual report said the chain has consistently underperfomed since it was acquired nearly half a decade ago. Scotts "corporate and other" segment, which consists of Smith & Hawken and administrative expenses, posted a 23 percent decline in sales at $51.2 million for the six months ended March 29. That segmentÂs operating loss for the six-month period totaled $75.4 million, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Scotts expects to take a $25 million after-tax hit on the closure of the chain, mainly tied to terminated leases and severance costs. Most of those charges, the company said, will be taken on by the end of the year. Scotts (NYSE: SMG) in the year ended Sept. 30, 2008, lost $10.9 million on $2.98 billion in revenue. The company has about 6,400 full-time workers worldwide.

I'm with lauriedeee on this one. Step away and think about whether you can and actually WILL use these tiles before making an impulse purchase. I am currently storing tile that I picked out for a bathroom and tile that I picked out for my kitchen and it's not pretty. Yes, the price is good, but if you don't have somewhere you absolutely will use it, then it will end up a waste of money and storage space. Take a deep breath and look at your house. Is there a space you absolutely will remodel and this is the perfect tile? Or are you trying to fit the tile in somewhere just because the price is good? Do you know the exact quantity you need or will you end up purchasing a bundle of tile only to discover you didn't purchase enough or you purchased way too much? If you find a project for it, do you have somewhere to actually store the tile for a long time until you get to that project?

EEEKKKK Having internet troubles here but since I got this far in a thread I am going to try to post. Jay I am with you in not seeing anything small in a 6000SQ FT house. Emagineer I stopped magazines several years ago. Once in awhile I will buy one and be sure to pass it on to the library or friend when I am done reading it. Usually it is on a trip for motel reading. Writersblock. we have a 12 by 10'8" kitchen with four foot corner pantry taking up some of that space and since it is open to the dinning room and living room it does feel huge to me. The dinning room is 11 by 12. We use it more as family room because it has a couch. Couch is used as seating when I do put up the table. We customized this manufactured home having the "guest bedroom" built with no closet for just the reason stated. Waste of good floor space. I am just now creating this room to be my guest/sewing /quiet reading room when wanted and exercise room. I certainly would not consider having a whole room devoted to guests that hardly ever come. So it is a ME room and a guest is welcome to use it. I also had my art studio room closet built with no door and curtains on top where wall would have been. I was able to build shelves on each end and lots of the wire shelves on the closet shelf all easily accessible. Then in center of closet I set furniture. See links. Not fine tuned yet. I am getting there. Scott I heard on the news in Boise people are turning back towards the smaller more affordable houses. Marti8a When we bought this house we added the optional porch. 8 by 26 foot. It is already on a foundation and under same house roof. This would be an easy remodel to close this area in and this would make the house HUGE to us. So far we have no intention to enclose it any more than to maybe put up side windows to block the weather a little. Than again maybe not. We have enjoyed sitting out there for lunches or just a nice cool down while working in the yard. If we did enclose this porch to make it as a room I do not think it would be done to extend the living room or kitchen but to be it's own room for sale of my art.Like a little store front. Maybe some day. I think the idea of a really glammed up small house is a great idea. Chris Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Closet

I sent a note to the powers that be. Also got the weird message when I tried to submit the note. Apparently GW received the note and sent me a response about 1pm eastern time. PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE IN ANY RESPONSE: GardenWeb mail response mc1251370712521ec rosa Hi deee, It appears that we are experiencing some technical issues, but our tech team has been notified and we anticipate that it will be resolved shortly. Thank you for your patience! Sincerely, GardenWeb Staff