Columnist Muriel Stevens: Saks full of wonderful bargains

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 8:41 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping column appears Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Fridays. Reach her at 259-4080 or muriel@lasvegassun.com.

Shopping during St. Patrick's weekend was sensational. Off Fifth Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet at Belz Factory Outlet World was packed from 8-10 a.m. with those lucky enough to be preferred shoppers who are always invited to shop before the store opens at 10 a.m. Saks also gives its invited customers a continental breakfast.

I'd arrived later than usual, but still had more than an hour to shop before the hordes arrived at 10 a.m. It's remarkable how many things you can buy here in one hour.

It's wise to be at the cashier's desk checking out before the next round of shoppers shows up. The lines are usually long with shoppers who have their arms full of purchases.

When I first started to attend these special pre-sale hours, there were very few men shopping. As word spread about the designer brands available in the men's department, more and more males showed up.

What makes them special? Those little colored stickers on the price tags that tell how much more the item is reduced. On most of the regular merchandise, discounts range from 40 percent to 70 percent off the normal retail price. On special sale days additional discounts are given. And preferred shoppers get an additional reduction at the check out desk.

And there are always sales that are not advertised. Cool Gucci sunglasses already reduced substantially were an additional 20 percent off and included a hard Gucci case. All Coach handbags and small leather goods carried the same extra discount.

I'm rarely disappointed with anything I want to buy here, but the lovely wallet I wanted had cracks in the leather around the frame. I was checking out when I noticed the flaw, and one of the managers offered to look for another one. He looked through every one, but all had the same cracks in the leather around the frame.

It's like a wonderful game, looking for items that have been reduced an additional 70 percent. With all the reductions I ended up paying just $42 for a $500 gray patent-leather designer handbag, just the size I was looking for.

Of course, the handbag wasn't all I bought. This kind of shopping is seductive, luring you into its embrace with such bargain prices.

It's not difficult to become an early shopper. If you use a Saks charge card for any purchase you're automatically put on the mailing list. Those without a Saks card can get a registration form at the cashier's desk.

From Saks I went next door to the Dansk outlet to see if the glasses I wanted were back in stock. They were, and at an additional 15 percent off. What luck. Dansk is not a large store, but it has a good selection of cookware, gadgets, place mats and napkins, glassware and dishes and other kitchen stuff.

At the rate new stores are opening, we'll rarely have to leave Las Vegas to shop.

Rumors, rumors: Trying to check out whether a Pottery Barn store and a second Williams Sonoma shop would be opening in the Boca Park center at Rampart and Charleston boulevards proved to be as illusive as the rumor. Staffers at WS in the Fashion Show mall showed signs of paranoia when I posed the question. My interpretation? Not likely now, but could happen in the near future.