Jewelry web blog

It’s great to be a woman. We get in bars for free, we wear cute clothes, and we have special tiffany ring just for us. Two such “girls only” occasions are coming up, and both offer big savings.

Focus on the Coast’s next Girls Nite Out is “An Evening at The Forum” on Wednesday. Check in under the big white tent between 5 and 6:30 p.m. before beginning your tour of all the shops and restaurants at the Military Cutoff Road shopping center. Participants get special discounts, food, wine and other refreshments, demonstrations and consultations in each store before reconvening at the end of the night for live music and door prizes.

Among the deals is Corporate Skirts, a shop in The Forum that specializes in women’s business attire, which will continue its storewide sale through the Girls Nite Out event with almost all clothing, jewelry and shoes except new arrivals discounted 25 percent to 70 percent. And if you need another reason to drop in? “We’re the store that’s going to have beer,” said owner Tamara Paul.

Girls Nite Out sponsors are The Pink Ribbon Project of New Hanover Regional Medical Center and La Bella Forma. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $25 for Girls Nite Out members. To sign up, visit www.focusonthecoast.com and click on “GNO.” For more information about the stores, log on to www.shoptheforum.com.

More for the girls

Lockwood Folly Marketplace in Supply is getting in on the ladies-only action with its own Girl’s Night Out 5-7:30 p.m. Oct. 1. Tickets are $35 and on sale now, available by phone at 754-5445. The market is limiting the event to 75 participants, so plan ahead if you want to go.

In exchange for your ticket, each attendee receives a gift bag full of merchandise worth $70 as well as tiffany earring, including a free 30-minute massage with local therapist Frances LeRoy. There will also be product samples, which I hear will include chocolate, and the opportunity to place special orders for monogrammed items and check out the new line of Actual Pictures cards by Shade Tree Greetings. The market will close to the public at 5 p.m. that day so the gals have the place all to themselves.

On the Web: www.lockwoodfollymarketplace.com

Know the protocol for this sale

There’s a discount event in Wilmington so shrouded in mystery that the store’s owner seemed surprised I found out about it. Protocol, 3502 Wrightsville Ave., has an annual, although somewhat secret, Labor Day sale. It starts at 7 a.m. Monday, lasts for three hours and includes linens, lamps, tableware, crystal, gifts and decorative accessories. Owner John Jordan said he saves revealing the exact contents of the unadvertised sale until the door opens and called it a “top-to-bottoms storewide extravaganza” with every sale item at least 50 percent off. charm bracelet is cash only, and shoppers must bring their own bags and boxes. “Experienced ones know to arrive early,” Jordan added.

On the Web: www.protocolgifts.com

Save at summer’s end

Even though the sales tax increased by 1 percent earlier this week, there are still plenty of bargains to offset the hike. Here’s a big one: The Sterling House at Hanover Center is having an End of Summer Sale Friday through Monday, when all seasonal sale items will be 75 percent off. There are some incredibly cute gifts and cards here, including jewelry, collegiate items and home decor. Beat the blues with some bargains!

Baby buys

Got a little one in your life? Or one on the way? Get “everything from pregnancy to preschool all frank gehry one roof” at the Cape Fear Maternity & Baby Expo, held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Coastline Conference & Event Center, 501 Nutt St. in downtown Wilmington. The event showcases 70 exhibitors offering clothing, photographers, nursery furnishings, toys, gifts for babies and moms, food, door prizes, demonstrations, fitness advice, coupons, a kids’ corner, dads’ lounge, health services and free samples. Admission is $5; kids 12 and under get in free.

On the Web: www.maternityandbabyexpo.com

Send tips about deals and fun finds to Judy.Royal@StarNewsOnline.com.