Columnist Muriel Stevens: From kids’ clothes to ingenuity

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 8:25 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping and travel columns appear Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Friday. Reach her at 259-4080 or muriel@lasvegassun.com.

Groovy, the new The Children's Place store in the Boulevard mall. Geared to boys and girls from newborn (sizes 6 months-4 Toddler) to sizes 4-14, The Children's Place stores are clearly identified for each age group. Clothes and accessories are conveniently arranged in separate departments. The company designs hip and trendy attire for kids, then contracts to manufacture its own line. The store's display windows are terrific. Kids and parents should love this happy store.

Problem solving: When the side strap on my favorite black leather handbag suffered from being treated as if it were an over-packed overnight bag, it rebelled. The side strap is part of the design. It's attached with a gold buckle at the end of the strap. From the extra weight I inflict upon all of my handbags, the hole where the buckle attaches had expanded. Each time the strap detached from the gold post that held it in place the bag folded like an accordion. I like this hand bag because it's lightweight when empty (it seldom is) and has a deep side pocket where I keep my keys and more junk. How could I fix the hole? A grommet wouldn't work because it wouldn't allow the small knob on the gold post to go through. After brainstorming with myself I decided to try one of those little elastic bands designed to tighten the sidepieces on eye glasses. One of thos e would expand to go over the little knob and would contract so the strap wouldn't fall off.

I always keep these handy little bands in the house, but where? Of course, I couldn't find them. In the past I've bought them at the check-out stand at the market. Vons, where I was shopping, doesn't carry them any more. This I found out when I asked where they were and was told, "Up the street at the drugstore." So off I went to Sav-On.

"Do you have those kits for repairing glasses?" "You'll find them," employee Cari Keegan said, "on the right-hand side of aisle 19." The small kits were right where she said they were. I was in and out of the store in less than 10 minutes. When I complimented her she shrugged it off, indicating it was no big deal. Oh, yes it is. Just ask this constant shopper.

Check those sales receipts: Early Saturday morning I headed for Saks Off Fifth Avenue at the Belz Outlet mall. They were having one of their special morning sales giving frequent customers an additional discount for two hours only. I've made some exceptional buys at these sales. And if what you buy has a colored dot on it there's an additional savings (depending on the dot's color) of up to 60 percent, plus the additional 15 percent.

Here's how it works. A Donna Karan $400 tote bag was marked down to $199. It had a blue dot, an additional 60 percent off. The final price to the buyer was $72. It's like a wonderful adult game. One high-profile designer handbag that I bought had been through a series of markdowns. The final price before added discounts was less than $100. When the check-out person gave me the final total I knew it was wrong, but it was hot, the line was long and I had to wait until I returned home to check the sales slip. The cashier had erred by more than $300! No problem. I called store manager Lorie Upton, read her the numbers on the receipt, she corrected the total and mailed me the new receipt.