Community Corner
The Frugal Family: North Fork Features Great Winter Finds
Winter is an ideal time to hit the local thrift shops and hardware stores to search for items to spruce up your own home or jazz up your summer rental property on a budget.
The winter is a great time on the North Fork for frugal families. Life slows down as we wait for the summer season to kick off and we continue to trudge through winter hunting for bargains.
If you find yourself in Greenport, the Thrift Shop, also called the Opportunity Shop or Op-Shop for short, is a great place to go if you need a winter coat that will carry you into spring. On a lucky day, you may find a great deal for as little as $10. Hats, gloves and scarves are available too with prices as low as $1. The Op-Shop also has a great selection of kitchen ware, stemware, pots and pans, and cutlery. Lamps, nightstands and headboards with prices starting at $10 on most days provide frugal families with affordable ways to spruce up their homes. The Op-Shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Arcade Department Store
After you hit the Op-Shop, head over to he Arcade on Front Street, where the storewide clearance sale that started this fall is still in progress offering discounts of up to 75 percent. The selection is impressive, featuring brand name kitchen supplies, pots and pans and small appliances at a fraction of their regular price. You can pick up new curtains, sheets and towels for your home or rental and get a new set of dishes too. Men and women’s clothing for adults and children are being sold at great low prices along with shoes, flip flops and mugs that are great fun. Try and find a mug with your name on it or stock up on Christmas tree ornaments. Home sewers will love the fabrics, notions and buttons that are marked down to rock bottom prices. The Arcade, once billed as “the store of 1000 items” is still a winner when it comes to selling basic dry goods at great prices.
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More great savings are in store for the frugal family that makes a stop at the North Fork Parish Outreach Thrift Shop on Route 25 in the Drossos Complex. This well-stocked thrift shop uses its proceeds to help the homeless and needy around town. The thrift shop is open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. This is another great place to snag a winter coat, a pair of boots and an armful of warm sweaters at lower than low prices. Sweaters are $3.50 to $5. All merchandise is donated in very good condition with many items looking nearly new. This is a great place to hit if you like to collect dishes and nice wine glasses. The selection is extraordinary sometimes with prices starting as low as fifty cents for a wine glass.
Frugal family homeowners know that a sure way to save money is to do it yourself if you can when it comes to minor home repairs. Southold’s Ace Hardware Store at 54795 Route 25 is the perfect place to go for supplies and save time and gas money by shopping down on Main Street. Prices are competitive. The store is well stocked. Check their website for daily specials and head over. This is one place where $20 goes along way and a new hammer or screw driver will not break the bank.
Once you are down on Main Street and have finished hanging out and shopping at the Hardware store, head across the street to the Main Street IGA on Route 25 where asparagus is on sale this week for $1.99 a pound.
