DON'T PANIC . . . Stanford Shopping Center says there are five fewer calendar days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Hanukkah starts early too, Dec. 6. But Stanford has signed up a number of seasonal stores to help with the rush of holiday shopping. Gamekeeper offers traditional and unusual games and novelties, located in the former Bow Wow Meow store next to Gourmet Franks. Mitchell's Beeswax features decorative candles and accessories in the former Ferrell Reed space across from The Limited. Macy's Holiday Lane is open in the former Sesame Street General Store and stocked with ornaments, accessories, cards and gift wrap. Calendar Club, owned and operated by Barnes & Noble, opens Nov. 1 to sell 1997 calendars and accessories in the former Ports International store next to NordicTrac. Best Of All Worlds will open a holiday shop Nov. 1 in the former Electronics Boutique near BeautyLand and the Stanford Deli. California Orchards will open Nov. 6 offering gourmet holiday gift baskets filled with dried fruits and nuts. California Orchards is in the former Nicole Miller space. Then there's Bloomingdale's. Bloomies will also have a separate Trim-A-Home holiday store located in the former Wherehouse Records store next to McDonald's. It will open Nov. 8. Happy Halloween. Happy Holidays.
MOVING SALE . . . Downtown Palo Alto is losing a pair of long time merchants, but they are not going far. The Oriental Carpet, owned by Syd and Linda Smith, has been at 526 University Ave. for 24 years. Syd Smith says there is only a handful of merchants left downtown with his record of original ownership and original location including Gleim Jewelers and Mills Florist. The Oriental Carpet is moving to 707 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park, which is the former Furniture Lady store. The new location, at 5,000 square-feet, is double the size of the University Avenue location. The Smiths are planning to be open in Menlo Park in early January after extensive remodeling at the new store. Right now everything in the Palo Alto store is specially priced to move quickly. The Smiths emphasize that this is a REAL sale on REAL merchandise with VERY REAL savings. Many handmade 8-by-10-foot carpets are priced at under $1,000. Many 9-by-12-foot carpets are under $1,300. Similar savings apply to the entire stock. The Oriental Carpet is closed on Mondays.
ROTATING RETAIL . . . Carnes Piano, at Town & Country Village in Palo Alto, will move temporarily to the former Town and Country Pharmacy space to make room for House Beautiful, an upscale, fine furniture consignment company. (Hand me that piano.) The store, owned by Bill and Linda Lappin, will open Dec. 1. TMC Vacation Center, a travel agency specializing in vacation cruises and tours is now open at 16 Town & Country Village. TMC Vacation is a division of Travel Management Corporation. TMC just bought Lane Travel Agency, which was at the Stanford Barn, and moved the whole operation to Town & Country Village.
--Dona van Bronkhorst
Send tips about store openings and closings, great deals and places to buy interesting things to Dona van Bronkhorst, Shop Talk, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. You can also leave a message for Shop Talk 24 hours a day at 326-8291, ext. 357, or send e-mail to shopping@paweekly.com
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