Bargain Shopping
Because it is such a shopping center, New York City has some of the best bargains in the world.
Jack's 99 Cent Stores
110 West 32nd Street (between 6th and 7th avenues)
West 34th Street-Herald Square station (B, D, F, N, Q, R, V, or W train)
212-268-9962
16 West 40th Street (between 5th and 6th avenues)
West 42nd Street-Bryant Park station (B, D, F, or V train) or 5th Avenue station (7 train)
212-696-5767
The ultimate ninety-nine-cent store, Jack's on West Thirty-second Street is the flagship location with two stories — the second floor has slightly more expensive items, such as gifts, linens, toys, and furnishings. Anything you might have forgotten at home — batteries, stockings, gloves, toothpaste — can be picked up for a buck, instead of paying overpriced hotel lobby convenience store prices. But the bargains are amazing too. You might even be able to pick up New York souvenirs for a dollar. There's an entire wall of kids' toys, many of them last year's hot Disney property.
There's a great Web site for locating the cross streets and avenues and the nearest subway stop. Go to
National Wholesale Liquidators
632 Broadway (between West Houston and Bleecker streets)
Bleecker Street station (6 train) or Broadway-Lafayette Street station (B, D, F, or V train)
212-979-2400
This store offers heavily discounted and wholesale prices on all types of gifts, toys, electronics, and housewares. It has everything for the home from toothpaste to television sets, linens to electronics.
Weber's Closeout Center
16 West 32nd Street (between 6th and 7th avenues)
West 34th Street-Herald Square station (B, D, F, N, Q, R, V, or W train)
212-564-4545
Weber's buys closeout lots of clothing, housewares, cosmetics, and linens and offers the goods at a fraction of the original price. These stores are also a great source of seasonal knickknacks. Recent offerings have included a popular handbag that sells for $30 on sale for $8 and terrific shoes for $5 a pair. A pair of purple suede knee-high boots was purchased for $10. You have to hunt through a lot of merchandise, but it is definitely worth it if you like that type of shopping. There are other branches in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
