Shopping

Last week we learned that adult children of divorce will almost always revert to childish behaviors. Case in point, Briana, the daughter previously known as The Most Reasonable Person in Orange County, dissolved into a impertinent, recalcitrant, petulant brat upon meeting her mother's boyfriend. This week Briana grows up and fights like a big girl … but we'll get there soon enough. Elsewhere in the O.C., there are tiaras to be worn and bling to be bought as Alexis goes all out for her little princesses, and Slade decides to declare Gretchen his queen.

The father-son owners of Carol's Western Wear in Glen Burnie are so attached to the legend of John Wayne that they know his boot size and preference for plain brown with a squared-off toe. They will mark the 105 t h birthday of America's well-known cowboy Saturday with a storewide sale that includes everything from alarm clocks and mugs with the Duke's image to several nearly 6-foot tall cut-outs of the actor in full-Western regalia....

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

 Candy retailer The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts has moved to larger quarters at Power Plant in downtown Baltimore, next to Phillips Seafood. The Inner Harbor store, which specializes in bulk and nostalgia candy, gift baskets and custom favors, is double the size of the former location in Harbor East, with entrances on Pratt Street and the Power Plant promenade.  Besides candy such as Blow Pops, Pop Rocks and Charleston Chews, the store sells...

Sometimes, the worst part of public transportation is having to conform to someone else's timetable. But the U.K. supermarket chain Tesco has found an innovative way to maximize the "unavoidable delay" of commuting. The company installed virtual grocery stores on Seoul subway platforms to allow customers to shop while they wait for their trains. People take a picture with their smartphones of the products they want, and the items are delivered soon after they arrive home --- eliminating the need to use up limited time after work or on weekends to acquire food.

Baltimore County will offer free metered parking over the holidays, officials said Friday. People can get two hours of free parking every day from Nov. 25 through 27, and the week before Christmas, from Dec. 18 through 24. The move is meant to encourage people to shop locally for the holidays and patronize Baltimore County's restaurants. alisonk@baltsun.com twitter.com/aliknez

One may think that a favorite pastime of a fashion consultant is shopping - au contraire, mon ami! Don't get me wrong, it's a close second, but de-cluttering is what really warms my heart. Most Americans have far too many clothes, and of course what is the frequent complaint? “I have nothing to wear!” A closet can be cleaned, but if you are unaware of how it turned into a jungle in the first place, it's likely to reforest over and over.    Why is my closet cluttered?

St. John Properties said Tuesday that it will break ground in the second quarter on The Village Center at The GATE, a 78,000-square-foot shopping complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The center will be part of The Government and Technology Enterprise development at the military base in Harford County. St. John also is building 135,000 square feet of office space as part of the development in addition to 110,000 square feet of office space it already built. - Andrea K. Walker

Nearly 40 years ago, I learned that Baltimoreans never tire of tales about the stores where they shopped. At that time, I made a small career out of writing about the Bernheimer-Leader retailing empire at Howard and Fayette streets. The building is now an apartment house called the Atrium. About a year ago, I was contacted by Michael Lisicky, whose book on Hutzler's came out last year and whose John Wanamaker ( Philadelphia) opus is due for publication in a few months. A Fells Point resident and member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Lisicky is writing a history for the Fells Point newsletter about a place called Hecht's Reliable, on the east side of Broadway between Eastern and Fleet streets.

Hackers Ink Man Cave 1 Hamilton St. Ellicott City, 410-744-6512 www.hackersmancave.com What's In Store: Specialties include comics, gaming, movies and “everything a growing man needs,” says owner Eric Smith. A carryout menu features food from nearby Tersiguel's restaurant. Don't let the name fool you -- ladies are welcome, too. Style Finds Consignments Harper's Choice Village Center 5485 Harpers Farm Road Columbia, 410-715-4579 What's In store: Stocking everything from kids' clothing to bridal gowns, Janina McNinney is helping customers save some cash.

  Need a new paella pan or a souffle dish? Best Buy Co.and Cooking.com have teamed up to launch an online store for cooks. The Best Buy Kitchen Shop, a microsite run by Cooking.com, offers more than 3,000 cookware and kitchen products and is accessible within the bestbuy.com online store, the companies said this week. Executives at Best Buy, which sells small and large appliances along with electronics, said the partners hope to offer customers  a “one-stop shop for all of their cooking needs - including a broader assortment of housewares, food and even recipes,” a Best Buy statement said.

- As the draw for Preakness post positions came to an end Wednesday evening, Donna Peiffer's work was just beginning. Into the night she worked, turning a dozen colorful cloths into identification badges that will help millions of racing fans follow a favorite horse from starting gate to finish line. I'll Have Another, Bodemeister, Daddy Nose Best - each cloth was embroidered with the name and number around the Preakness logo. Folded neatly and placed in a plastic bin, they awaited a final inspection, a pressing and the trip to Pimlico Race Course . On Saturday, the cloths will be placed on the backs of the horses before saddles are cinched and the jockeys mount.

Lisa Schatz starts her Preakness shopping eight months early, at the September fashion trade shows in New York City. In addition to her regular buys for spring inventory, she's learned to add items featuring bold colors and fun prints that will stand out at Maryland's biggest horse race. Usually boutique owners purchase clothes for four seasons — five, if you count resorts. But in Baltimore, where Preakness-goers buy duds that sometimes veer from national spring trends, window displays are peppered with color combinations such as yellow and black, bold prints and funky hats that reflect the quirky traditions of the race.

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target. That's one of the findings of an index released today that scores the top 100 online retailers on customer satisfaction. ForeSee's Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index based its analysis on nearly 21,000 surveys of online shoppers in the first quarter of 2012. The scores, calculated on a 100-point scale, range from a high of 89 for Amazon to a low of 69 for Ancestry.com and efollett.com. The top six, all with scores of 83 or higher, were Amazon, Apple, QVC, Keurig, Avon and L.L. Bean.

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

Hey, Potbelly fans, that new Potbelly Sandwich Shop in Towson is opening on Tuesday, May 1. This is the first Potbelly in Towson and the seventh in the Baltimore area for the Chicago-based franchise, which began back in 1977 in a small antique store that offered homemade sandwiches to its customers. The Towson Potbelly is located on 8600 La Salle Road in the Maryland Executive Park, where the Gino's Burgers & Chicken is. The new Potbelly will be open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The shop will offer delivery Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the coming weeks.

Online shopping topped $30 billion with 10 days to go until Christmas, up an astonishing 15 percent over last year and providing a much-needed boost to the economic mood in this country. You're welcome. OK, I didn't spent the $30 billion myself. I had help. Online shopping has been available for Christmas for a while now, but this year I — and apparently a lot of other shoppers -- bought just about all my gifts with the simple click of a mouse. No traffic jams. No battle for a parking spot.

In five years, the District Sample Sale has become the premiere shopping event in the region. The draw of more than 20 of the region's best boutiques selling end-of-season clothes at prices up to 90 percent off regularly attracts 700 shoppers to the twice-annual event. Supermodel Hilary Rhoda, actress Ali Wentworth and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, have all braved the sea of thrifty fashionistas for a crack at the discounted duds in downtown D.C. "We tell new attendees every year to brace for the chaos," said Barbara Martin, head of the public relations and events firm BrandLinkDC, who founded the event with four other women in 2006.

Dr. George G. Hansen, a retired dentist and master woodworker, died April 11 of pneumonia at Oak Crest Village retirement community. He was 89. The son of educators, Dr. Hansen was born in Baltimore and raised in Towson. He spent his boyhood summers at a camp his parents owned and operated in Oakland, where he learned to ride horses, shoot, canoe, camp and do woodworking. After graduating in 1941 from Polytechnic Institute, where his father taught physical education, he earned his degree in an accelerated class in 1946 from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.

With a Canton warehouse fire reduced to a smolder by Monday morning, attention shifted to ensuring that surrounding homes and the harbor's waters are protected from caustic chemicals inside the facility. State and federal environmental officials were on the site alongside firefighters into Monday evening, monitoring water streaming from the one-story brick structure into storm drains. The warehouse contains nearly 8,000 gallons of corrosive chemicals, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.