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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1991)
Bargain hunters lured to Nebraska City By Tracy Mueller Staff Reporter __ Nebraska City, east of Lincoln on Nebraska Highway 2, is home to Arbor Lodge, John Brown’s Cave and other historical attractions. It also happens to be home to a dozen or so factory outlet and off-price stores carrying name-brand goods. The stores sell everything from quality woolens, clothing, perfumes, cosmetics and luggage to children’s goods, shoes and paper products. And most arc priced at a hefty discount from 20 to 60 percent off retail prices. Sound good? Read on. The Vanity Fair Outlet Mall is south of Nebraska City near the intersection of Nebraska Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 75, 47 miles east of Lincoln. Its stores include: — VF Factory Outlet sells ap parel, including Lee jeans, Jantzen and Jansport adult clothing and Lol lipop’s children’s wear. — Van Heusen Factory Store sells men’s and women’s sports wear and dress shirts. — Prestige Fragrance & Cos metics, Inc. sells men’s and women’s perfumes, cosmetics, creams and lotions, including Charles of the Ritz., Max Factor, Revlon, Ultima II, Germaine Montcil and other toiletry items. — Banister Shoe sells 40 name brands, including Cobbies and Capc zio. Other stores arc in Nebraska City, centered on the Seventh Street and First Corso area: — Full Size Fashion is a cloth mg outlet that sells DK Gold, Donn Kinney, Shaker Sport, Levi Ben dovers; Samsonite and Jordachc luggage; Nomine socks; yearlong swimwear and accessories. —1/2 Price Party & Gift sells paper goods, invitations, station ery, streamers, wrappings and bows. — NY Fashions sells clothing including Guess? and Outback Red. — A name-brand woolens manu facturer with a plant in Nebraska City sells men’s and women’s apparel, blankets and piece goods. Kathy Nigro, Prestige manager, said retail traffic is good, espe cially on weekends. She estimated that 65 percent of her customers are from out of town (outside a 50 mile ramus). Prices range from $4 for a $10 Charles of the Rit/. lip color, and up, including $27 for a 4-ouncc boltlc of Boss cologne that normally retails for $49. Carol Byers, a saleswoman at Full Size Fashion, said her store draws people from Omaha, Lin coln, St. Joseph, Mo., and Kansas City. Amie DeFrain/Daliy Nebraskan Customers have come from as far as Hawaii, with one woman making an annual trip from Florida to shop in Nebraska City. Prices at Full Si/c Fashion in clude $73 for a dress normally priced at $99 and S60 for a garment bag normally retailed at S100. I.,—— Fashion, Quality & Complete Eye Care -“■—i I ► FREE EYE EXAM ◄ j With Eyeglass Purchase Bring in a receipt from your latest eye examination and we'll | give you up to $40 off your next purchase of complete | prescription eyeglasses! 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Doling Optical \ I ye tip rot mcmded Contacts to powers 0i 100 contact tens prescript*)* required ONk brands avertable ■ Nc of»er discounts or tbr'd party plans apoy Good at pan«cpat'nq locations only Set store Hx complete deta is I---1 ' ruling Optical "We'll Change The Way You Look At Lite" 3923 S 48th St 488-3106 East Park Pla/a 466-1924 (Ooen Sur'.ctay) The Atrium 4/6-9652 Savings, size and creativity reasons j for students to sew their own originals By Pat Dinslage Senior Editor Designer originals — the words stir up visions of Paris, Rome, maybe New York, and a price tag running into three or four figures. But there is a way to have an original outfit, without the massive price lag: You make your own. “It’s something different than anybody cIsc’s” said Diane Hohnstcin, manager of So-Fro Fabrics, 5635 O St. “You can pick out the fabric and pattern you want. When you make (an outfit), it fits better. You can make it higher quality than what you can buy.” Despite the above advantages of sewing your own designer outfit, Hohnstcin said there is one main dis advantage: The lime involved in se lecting the pattern and fabric and in making the item. Despite the extra time, more people arc sewing these days, according to Hohnstcin and Wendy Elston, super visor at Northwest Fabrics, Gateway Shopping Center. In the last five years, the number of customers and sales at both stores have increased. Hohnstcin attributes much of the increase in the popularity of sewing to the development of the serger sewing machine. A serger is an ovcrlock sewing machine that gives clothes made at home a more professional look by sewing more stitches per inch faster and culling off the scam at the same time. It retails for $300 to $800, she said. Elston said the recession also has helped increase sales because people arc more likely to sew their own out fits to save money. But making your own clothes is not necessarily less expensive than buying them at a retail store. “It can be cheaper,” Hohnslcin said, “but you have to watch for sales. If you buy at regular prices,... it’s not that much cheaper than clothes at Target or ShopKo.” But sales on patterns and fabrics arc easy to find. If someone is inter ested in making an outfit, he or she probably could find everything on sale, according to Hohnslcin and Elston. “Very rarely do our regular cus tomers have to pay full price for pat terns,” Elston said. So-Fro also has sales on a regular basis, “some right after another,” Hohnslcin said. Half-price discount coupons on patterns and 20 percent to 50 percent sales on fabrics are common at So Fro, Hohnslcin said. Elston said that S6.95 regularly priced patterns arc often on sale for 99 cents to S2. For a customer to sew a sweat shirt, it would cost S12 to SI3 at regular prices, she said. With the discounts and sales, the same sweat shirt could be made for about $8. Competing with the cheaper cost of making your own clothes and the lime involved arc the discount retail stores, consignment stores and thrift shops. The regular cost of making a dress or sweat shirt is similar to what a customer usually pays at a discount store such as T.J. Maxx, which sells sweat shiris for $ 10 to $ 13, according * to a Maxx employee. At consignment stores such as Fashion II Consignment Boutique, clothing prices arc about 1/4 to 1 /3 of the original retail price, said Kathy Herr, Fashion II owner. “Resale shops have become popu lar with all income levels. They’re not just for those with light budgets. They’re for anyone who wants a good buy ... and you don’t have to take the time to make things,” Herr said. Thrift stores are probably the least expensive places to find clothes. Stores like the Salvation Army sell women’s sweat shirts for $3.50 to $12.50. Despite the popularity of discount and thrift stores, Elston said she thinks the trend toward making your own clothes is up even among students. Although the largest group of cus tomers at both So-Fro and Northwest consists of women and senior citi zens, col lege students compr i sc about 20 percent of Northwest’s customers and a smaller percentage at So-Fro, according to Hohnstcin and Elston. But if a student, or anyone else, has the time, desires a unique outfit and wants to save some money, El ston said, sewing has its advantages. “You can design whatever you want. You have a wide selection of colors and fabrics,” she said, “whereas when you’re buying (at a store), they may have only one color or one style from which to choose.” I