Printed Issue: February 20 to March 4, 2004

Big Winter Sales in Back Bay

    When the Newbury Street consignment store Second Time Around put a half-price sign in its window, there was practically a stampede!  A mob of people disappeared down the stairs and into the store, but I followed them and returned with a coat so warm I could traverse the artic tundra in it.  Yes, I found the deal of the century: a fashionable, full-length sheep-skin coat for $100!  February is one of the biggest sale months of the year in Boston, with August being the other.  Unlike other parts of the world with more moderate climates, at the end of the season in Beantown, the merchandise must go!  Accustomed to this cyclical retail phenomenon, most Bostonians are blase.  But a friend of mine from Columbia returned from shopping February sales here, flushed by the frenzy of activity and wild with excitement.  Give it a try to stay warm in February.