Friday, November 2, 2012
Looking to get a head start on your holiday shopping? Check out some of these local holiday craft and market fairs.
Looking for some local holiday markets or craft fairs to get a head start on your holiday shopping? We’ve got you covered. Holiday Craft Fair What: Crafters selling homemade creations; a concession stand, bake sale and chances to win items from participating crafters When: Saturday, Nov. 3 (8 a.m. to 3 p.m.) Where: St. Mary Immaculate gym, 15629 S. Route 59, Plainfield Cost: Free Holiday Sparkle Fair What: Crafts from around the world, handmade dog leashes and toy, plus homemade candy, cookies, pies, cakes and other treats, not to mention a soup and bread luncheon with homemade soups to eat in or carry-out from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. More than 20 raffle gift baskets will be up for grabs, plus a handmade, partially furnished "Victorian …
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Customers face minimal hassle while trading in unwanted presents and taking advantage of post-Christmas sales.
If the return lines on Monday were an indication of holiday bliss, then Santa Claus did a remarkable job of gift giving this Christmas season. While the day after Christmas is typically a notoriously busy shopping day, second only to Black Friday, area businesses saw steady but not outrageous lines throughout the morning hours. Perhaps due to gift cards, earlier discounts promotion dates and online shopping, early-morning customers benefited from the reduced volume of patrons out on a sun-splashed morning. “I noticed the same thing,” Plainfield resident Jane Kunka said while shopping for some seasonal items at Target. “I won’t go out the day after Thanksgiving but I do go out the day after Christmas. This is the calmest it’s ever been. I …
41.649808
-88.203497
Target
12800 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/area-shoppers-suffering-post-holiday-burnout
280148
/locations/6097836
41.651832
-88.203574
Walmart Supercenter
12690 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/area-shoppers-suffering-post-holiday-burnout
280165
/locations/6097837
41.666949
-88.204165
Kohl's
11860 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/area-shoppers-suffering-post-holiday-burnout
279546
/locations/6097838
Monday, November 28, 2011
A little creativity -- and help from online sources -- can save you a lot of money in this season in which people are encouraged to spend too much.
It seems this year the retailers have embarked on a particularly aggressive campaign to extract every last dime of disposable income in circulation. Price slashing, extended store hours, in-store credit and payment plans are being offered as an incentives to get you to scoop up merchandise, most of which was likely not even made in the USA. For many people, however, this year's holiday season will be very much like last year's: bleak and depressing. With limited funds, you are essentially disenfranchised from the annual holiday spend-a-thon but not so if you live "green 4 less." I would like to share some money-saving ideas so you may have an enjoyable holiday season without spending yourself into oblivion or getting caught up in a feeding…
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Combination of dreary weather and the Bears game may have kept people home, but it's expected the next two weeks will be busy.
Traditionally, the day after Christmas is one of the busiest of the year -- sometimes rivaling the day after Thanksgiving - but not so this year for Plainfield stores, managers said Sunday. "Normally the day after Christmas is our busiest day of the year, because we get returns, we get purchases, [and] everyone has gift cards," said Brendan Eelay, manager for GameStop. Earlier in the morning more than $400 in gift card purchases were made as well as about 100 video game trade-ins, but things had slowed quite a bit by afternoon, Ealay said. "There is a football game, so not so much (business)," he said, referring to the Chicago Bears-New York Jets match-up that began at noon Sunday. A lot was riding on the game, including the Bears inching…
41.649808
-88.203497
Target
12800 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/store-managers-say-post-christmas-shopping-lighter-than-expected
280148
/locations/2868364
41.65164
-88.203569
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
12700 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/store-managers-say-post-christmas-shopping-lighter-than-expected
279846
/locations/2868365
41.650747
-88.203534
GameStop
12748 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/store-managers-say-post-christmas-shopping-lighter-than-expected
280675
/locations/2868366
And also a Christmas mystery -- why were the return lines at local stores so long right before Christmas and so short the day after?
This year, Plainfield shoppers seemed to be returning their stocking stuffers before Santa even got to town, perhaps as best evidenced by the lack of crowds on the traditional return day. By mid-afternoon Sunday, lines at customer service lanes in local department stores had dwindled down to nothing. At their longest, a clerk at Target told me, there were only a half-dozen shoppers waiting to retrun items. Oh, sure, there was one woman at Wal-Mart cashing in the $80 of chips and Christmas cookies she'd stocked up on for holiday company. "I over-bought," she sheepishly confided to the return clerk. Crys Meyer was taking back a computer sleeve because it didn't have any pockets for her power cord and accessories. Eric Meyer was returning…
41.651832
-88.203574
Walmart Supercenter
12690 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/a-christmas-miracle-somebody-returned-the-gift-i-wanted
280165
/locations/2868405
41.649808
-88.203497
Target
12800 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/a-christmas-miracle-somebody-returned-the-gift-i-wanted
280148
/locations/2868406
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
We hit the streets to see what gifts made these Average Joes and Janes wish they'd received nothing instead.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Ben Gross
-
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Christmas presents are supposed to bring cheer and joy, but everyone remembers at least one present they found under the tree that they wish they could have returned to Santa. For Elizabeth Tourlas, 44, that gift was a shirt from her future husband. "We were just starting to date at the time," Tourlas said. "It was not me at all. It wasn't even close to my style." We hit the streets of Plainfield asking people shopping at Meijer to see what the worst Christmas gift they ever received is. Click on each photo to read what these folks had to say.
41.63337
-88.202819
Meijer
13521 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/we-asked-whats-the-worst-christmas-gift-you-ever-received
280767
/locations/2840233
Monday, December 20, 2010
For your dining, driving and last-minute food and gift-giving pleasure, a handful of businesses are open on a day when most of us are celebrating.
This coming Christmas Day, not everyone will be basking in the glow of the family hearth feeling nothing but goodwill toward men after downing a huge feast and tearing open a bounty of presents. Some folks will be manning cash registers, working in kitchens and overseeing gas pumps to guarantee you can not only get to grandma's house, but that you can pick up that last-minute bottle of booze, box of candy or present for Aunt Mildred along the way. And just in case the Bumpus' hounds make off with your turkey, several Chinese restaurants will be open for your dining pleasure. Here are 15 places you may or may not know are open on Christmas: 1. Starbucks, 12640 Route 59, open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 2. Walgreens, 14902 Route 59 (at Route 126) …
41.612423
-88.202326
14902 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
/locations/2819068
41.615915
-88.204069
Walgreens
24801 W. 135th Street Swc Of Route 30 St., Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
281109
/locations/2819069
41.665863
-88.204113
Yen Ching
11914 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280813
/locations/2819070
41.624027
-88.221981
Route 30 Wine & Liquor
14210 U.S. 30, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280881
/locations/2819071
41.60214
-88.201949
T-Bird's Liquors
15420 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
279725
/locations/2819072
41.588996
-88.181381
Discount Liquors
23145 W Lincoln Hwy, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280358
/locations/2819073
41.594676
-88.201618
Thorntons Gas and Food Mart
15800 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
279884
/locations/2819074
41.585466
-88.17448
Plainfield Mobil
22921 W Lincoln Hwy, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
279883
/locations/2819075
41.61325
-88.20236
7-Eleven
14807 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
1346887
/locations/2819076
41.667358
-88.204183
CVS Pharmacy
11840 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280058
/locations/2819077
41.653018
-88.203614
Starbucks Coffee
12640 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280224
/locations/2819078
41.6348
-88.203029
Hope Buffet
13610 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280847
/locations/2819079
41.590133
-88.201518
Sapporo Inc
16108 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
280646
/locations/2819080
41.639425
-88.203162
Great Wall of China
13400 S Route 59, Plainfield, IL
/articles/15-places-you-didnt-know-were-open-on-christmas
279523
/locations/2819081
Lisa Sidles
4:32 pm on Friday, November 2, 2012
Ten Thousand Villages Fair Trade Shop at Oswego Presbyterian Church this Saturday 12-4 and Sunday 9:30-2! more ›