Bargain Finds
Services
Frame Club
In business since 1982, Frame Clubs’ owner Alona Crawford has employed three basic principles to keep prices at 30%-60% lower than other framing sources. Do all the work in-house, deal with local suppliers and services to hold down costs and locate in a low rent district.
The Cover Story
The Cover Story is the secret wholesale slipcover source that interior designers use for high quality custom slipcovers at the best possible price.
But, you can go there too and save 30%-50% on custom slipcovers.
Urbanism
A true bargain find, Urbanism offers good quality, stylish home furnishings at 20%-50% off of boutique furniture stores like Crate & Barrel and Restoration hardware. Savvy owner Stephanie Lamons can sell these hi quality pieces by working directly with manufacturers, keeping a low working overhead, buying in volume and only being open limited hours.
All Patio
Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner. Instead of purchasing new patio furniture, consider refurbishing the set you have. You can save 50%-80% on the cost of new.
America’s Tire Company
I’ve gotta say that with the economic downturn, it seems that customer service has gone down the tubes. This surprises me, since stores need to do whatever they can to pull in customers and bad service results in lost customers/sales. Good service has always been part of our mantra and when I get truly great service I need to let you know. Which brings up my encounter today with America’s Tire Company (a nationwide chain) in Glendale.
American Lock & Key
Moving into a new home has it’s share of unforeseen expenses. One that we didn’t think we needed initially was a locksmith. But after the dust settled and we found that some keys didn’t match all the doors, couldn’t get a safety bolt to work on one door and we wanted a couple of new keys, we had to contact a locksmith.
Foam Mart
An old time favorite for upholstery stuffing, crafts and construction projects is Foam Mart in Burbank. Around since 1963, daughter Andrea has taken over this family run business and is making this place a one stop destination for extremely hard to find products in a large selection of foams as well as fabrics, feather inserts to latex mattresses, insulation, craft and memory foam.
Free Job Training
The recession is tough on teen and young adults. College tuition has sky rocketed and many kids are unable to afford to go to college or just going part time. Many of them are starting to look for work without any preparation or training.
Enter the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network Youth Opportunity Center.
Glendale Youth Alliance
Started in 1994, the Glendale Youth Alliance (GYA) provides job seeking skills and employment preparedness training for Glendale’s youth ages 14-24. They have several programs that provide mentored employment to youth and they’ll quote prices before starting work. Brush clearance, light office duties, hauling, landscaping, and more at pricing that is 25%-50% below.
Habitat Restores
Habitat ReStores have both new and used surplus building materials donated by building supply stores, contractors, demolition crews and individuals. The products here range from door knobs to doors, sinks to lighting, windows to hardware, flooring and almost anything in between, all at prices that are 40%-70% below what you would expect to pay.
HD Supply, Repair & Remodel
Spring and Summer usually bring with it home repair and remodeling jobs. Some of these big repairs can be costly, even if you do the work yourself. With every penny counting to stay on budget, you’ll be happy to shop at HD Supply Repair & Remodel.
HD Supply does a high volume, low markup business in huge warehouses, saving you 10%-50% on doors, windows, cabinets, flooring, lumber, moulding, tools, electrical, masonry, plumbing, heating & cooling and more.
Home Improvement
Spring and Summer are the time most of us think of doing some home improvement projects. If you’re tight on time and a budget too, don’t settle for Home Depot or Lowes just because it’s easy without checking out these great discount sources for Home Improvement projects:
Jack Winter Auto Inspection
Shopping for a good used car takes some research and a good mechanic. After doing the initial homework on the car ourselves, including web search, consumer reports buying guide and a test drive, we call in our favorite roving mechanic, Jack Winters, to inspect the car.
Jorge Garcia Furniture Restoration
When we wanted to restore our antique furniture, only one re finisher totally understood our concept of restoration. Jorge Garcia works out of a small warehouse in Pasadena and specializes in antique polishing, restoration, refinishing as well as caning, rushing and carving. Jorge Garcia is especially good at matching wood tones and repairs. He does terrific work, gives accurate and fair estimates and is easy to deal with.
RER Demolition
Not only is RER Demolition a terrific demolition company (Ellen DeGeneres has used them). But they also salvage good reusable items out of upscale homes and industrial building and resell them to the public at prices that are cheaper than your average garage sale!
Roku
We’ve cut cable TV down to basic cable and only have basic cable in one room instead of several. The biggest change, however was the addition of Roku.
Survival Kits Online
At Survival Kits Online located in a small warehouse/ store off the beaten path in West Hills, you can get emergency preparedness kits for less. On average 20%-50% less. You can buy piece by piece or buy a pre-made kits for less.
Valley Upholstering
Finding an Upholsterer who is well priced, consistency does quality work with exceptional levels of workmanship and design, isn’t easy. But not anymore…
Since 1978 Valley Upholstering has been the source used by chic interior design firms, large retail stores to do “their” upholstery work and custom designed upholstered pieces. Why pay those inflated prices when you can go directly to the source and save 40%-70% on the exact same service.


