When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I’m firmly in Tim’s camp: it’s for suckers. Of course, I have a lot more to cry about than he does. Instead of doing that, I went to Fat Albert’s, the most wonderful department store in all of Bushwick, and shopped for all of you people. If you’re not familiar, Fat Albert’s is a giant, anything goes discount warehouse right by the Flushing Ave. J and M stop, described by a Yelp reviewer (the only Yelp reviewer, actually) as a  place that “looks pretty beat up and does need an extreme makeover, but you can’t beat the prices.” Sounds like the perfect place to find a Valentine’s Day present! (more…)

The 90s: Buffy, OJ, Rollerblades, OS 9, and... Hair Wrapping parties! Hair Wrap Kit, $23.49 at Cheap Charlie's.

Greenpoint’s bustling Manhattan Avenue is a great place to score boatloads of ridiculously, disgustingly good deals on stuff for your body, home, school or pet. If you’ve lived in the area, you’ve likely found yourself checking out the latest trends at Payless or hanging with the critters at Petland Discounts at some point. But did you know this little avenue of awesomeness is also a great place to go exploring for fun, unexpected cheap finds? Packed within a three-block radius south of Calyer Street are numerous stores posing as discount outlets for pet goods, toys, fashions and electronics, but which really contain a bounty of treasures lost in time. We went on a Brokelyn scavenger hunt to dig up the goods, and here’s a list of our best finds – some useful, some quaint and some just straight-up hilarious. (more…)

If you’re anything like some of us around here, you’vre got an eye for designer fashion but a wallet that doesn’t stretch past the clearance racks.

We’d heard good things (and some not so good things) about American Place, a six-store chain stretching across South Brooklyn, not to be confused with the creepy doll store or the perv-owned t-shirt company. After seeing some stylish evidence firsthand, we decided to stop into the McDonald Avenue location, right outside the Avenue P train station on the F line.

American Place houses items from Marc Jacobs to Burberry to Versace, all marked down at least 40%. At first glance, it looks a bit shabby and abandoned, set amid McDonald Avenue’s unglamorous mechanic shops and lumber stores. When I visited on a weekday afternoon, not many people were passing through — all the easier for me to get to the good stuff.  (more…)

When we heard that Christian Siriano’s new line for Payless was out, we had to check it out. We love when designers collaborate with discount retailers, even if everyone knows you’re really wearing Payless or Target, not anything legitimately fancy. Plus, he lives in Williamsburg. (Holla Chris! Do you read Brokelyn?) At the Atlantic Center store, they only had the Micola black, white and red swirly flats ($29.99) and the Geneva black peep-toe boots ($49.99) in my size. I tried on the boots first. While they’re a little too fierce for my wardrobe, they fit comfortably enough. After a few laps around the store, nothing rubbed the wrong way or poked me in a weird place. The flats, on the other hand, were a hot mess, and not in a good way, which is too bad because they are really cute, both in the print and in gold, right down to the turquoise piping around the insole. I took a few steps in them and the way they rubbed against my heel I practically had a blister before I could get them back in the box. And stiff fabric in shoes like these, you can’t break in. So is it just me, or has anyone actually successfully walked more than eight feet in these things?