Not only is it still snowing as if winter has no plans to go anywhere, but it’s coming down out there more than it has in years. To much surprise, instead of marking up certain items, I’ve noticed a lot of stores downtown having big sales, some of which are things that could definitely come in handy in light of Snowpocalypse ’10. Here’s a list of just a few of the things going on downtown that I noticed on my walk home the other day.

Barefoot-Up to 70% off of winter boots. I think Uggs were included in the sale to some extent. I know I can’t walk to class without seeing my daily quota of 300 girls wearing Uggs, so take advantage of this and get them cheap now if you don’t already have a pair. You’ll be glad you did next fall.

The Shoe Box- 25% off of SmartWool socks. It’s slushy out there and there’s nothing more frustrating than wet socks. If these get wet they’re not as miserable and they’ll definitely keep you warm too. Even for those of you headed to career fairs and what not, they sell these in different colors and actually look really good with a winter suit. Buy a pair that matches your tie, or your pocket square if you have one. More than anything, though, these are really functional this time of the year.

Other than these two obvious winter bargains, there are some stores that are having big sales to take advantage of even if you won’t use what you buy for a month or two.

Access- I don’t know much about Access, since I’ve never gone into the store for obvious reasons. So I don’t know how the ladies of Happy Valley like this particular store, but they are having a sale of 75% off within the store. Even if you’ve never found anything you like in there, it’s worth it to go in and check it out during a 75% off sale.

Mr. Charles- Again, I’ve never been inside Mr. Charles (Editor’s note: unlike yo momma! Burn!), but I noticed they are having a 50% off sale too. Just passing by and looking in it looks like they have some really nice stuff in there, which is probably normally pretty pricey, so you never know if something you’ve wanted in there for a while is half off right now. Also, since spring is (hopefully) right around the corner, check out their sunglasses, which are only $10. For sunglasses, check out The Apple Tree too.

Harper’s- Last but not least, Harper’s has a sign in its window that says “50% off”. I definitely will be checking this out and you should too, since there’s probably not many times where you can afford stuff in this store, which I think has the nicest clothes around State College.

These sales are happening at a good time. You can pick up stuff for the rest of winter and get ready for spring too. And if you worked this past summer and you filed your taxes quick enough like I did, that hefty government refund is right around the corner and waiting to be spent. That is, unless you have more important things to use it on like books or tuition and what not.

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