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Time：第 68 次例會，2006年8月12日（週六）下午2:30~5:00
Place： viewtopic.php?t=15
14:30~15:30 gossiping and chatting
15:30~15:45 Ice Breaker session
15:45~16:00 intermission
16:00~17:00 topic discussion
Host : Milena Hsieh
Assistant Host: Steven
Topic：Shopping in New York
Discount stores （source：Travel and living Channel）
As well as offering the shopper unrivalled glamour and choice, New York also caters to the bargain hunter.
To most people, the appeal of shopping in New York City is in large part due to the profusion of specialty shops, the one-of-a-kind designers, those upscale stores you otherwise read about only in glossy magazines. It’s inarguable that the city offers the best of everything, at prices we are supposed to be willing to bear for the high quality or sheer thrill of making such a purchase. But this isn’t the full picture.
New York may be one of the most expensive places to shop in America, but it also offers some of its best bargains. Sample sales are launched almost every day, and warehouse clearance sales are equally common; these things you have to hunt for, learn about from those fliers thrust at you on the street, or read about in New York Magazine. There are also bargains to be had at the numerous street vendors (on Canal Street, for example) and at flea markets and street fairs.
On the other hand, there are always those shops created to serve bargain hunters on a daily basis. Discount shopping has long been synonymous with Filene’s Basement and Loehmann’s, both of which were Boston landmarks before branching into New York several years ago. However, New York has discount shops of its own: Bolton’s, Syms, Daffy’s, Strawberry’s, Century 21, and Conway’s, amongst others
All of these stores have more than one location throughout New York City, and most have several branches. What’s in stock depends on what has been cleared out from the previous season’s selections from department stores and other places that are feeding grounds for these discount operations. Not all items are hand-me-downs from other stores, as some stock their own brands or have non-brand name versions of what is otherwise considered designer clothing. The items, mostly clothing and household goods, are a little picked over, with some looking downright used, but you’re likely to forgive these flaws for the bargain prices available.
Vocabularies：
unrivalled：無敵的,無對手的,無可比擬的
profusion：充沛,大量
cater：滿足需要,迎合
glossy：浮誇的
fliers：傳單
thrust：塞,插
synonymous：同義的
downright：完全的,十足的
Questions
1. Do you know some unwell-known stores that always offer you satisfying products and prices? Please share with us.
2. Have you ever had any unforgettable or funny bargaining experiences? If yes, please tell us the whole scenario.
3. Do you have any useful bargaining tips? Please show to us.
4. Do you know the annually special sales of department stores? Have you ever snuck out of office to purchase any specials?
5. Are you addicted to any kind of things or goods just like Carries’s irresistibility to shoes in Sex and the City?
6. Had you ever regretted buying something that you thought it’s not worthwhile after you bringing it home?
7. Please recommend any kind of nice stores (restaurants, secondhand bookstores, clothing, furniture or e-product outlets, warehouses et al.) that provide considerate service or good products.
8. Have you ever received bad service that got on your nerves or made you angry? If yes, why?
9. Could you share with us what kinds or specific product you have wanted for a long time?
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台北，每週六 (2005年6月起)
Taipei, Saturday, Weekly
from June, 2005
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
高雄，每月最後一個週日 (2007年4月起)
Kaohsiung, Final Sunday, Monthly
from April, 2007
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
