Celebrate the season of shopping with a visit to the Big Apple

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When it comes to the winter holidays, there's nowhere quite as splendid as New York. And as the season of giving is inevitably also the season of shopping, there's also no better place to get gifts for everyone on your list and enjoy yourself at the same time.
While such a visit may seem extravagant in these lean times, hotel and shopping deals abound to make the venture to the Big Apple more appealing.
The cost of a New York hotel room is likely to be your biggest expense, although many hotels are offering package deals, including some targeted at holiday shoppers.
The Marriott Marquis in Times Square, for example, is offering a Bloomingdale's Shopping Package valid through March 31. It includes a $50 gift card, a free cosmetics bag from the Bloomingdale's visitors center and other bonuses from the store. Room rates for the package start at $344 per night.
At the Courtyard Marriott (one on Fifth Avenue and one in Times Square), rates for the Passport to New York package start at $209 per night, but this requires a four-night minimum stay. It includes a New York City guidebook, subway map and other helpful information, two vouchers for Grey Line "hop on, hop off" sightseeing tours and a 21-inch suitcase so that you can more easily lug home extra purchases.
Fabulous boutiques and shops can be found all over the city, but certain areas are easier to navigate and have much greater concentrations of stores. To take your own walking tour, start at 72nd Street and Madison Avenue and head south. Along the way, you'll pass designer boutiques such as Prada, Versace and Valentino and other destination shops. At East 58th Street, walk west to Fifth Avenue and check out one of Manhattan's most impressive department stores: Bergdorf Goodman. Don't worry about being intimidated -- everybody else is, too. This stretch is a jewelry lover's paradise. Compare stunning pieces at Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston and Cartier.
Anyone with an appreciation for beautiful things could pass many hours simply window shopping at these high-end stores, but there are also plenty of lower-price stores. You'll find Crate & Barrel, Ann Taylor, The Disney Store, Sephora and Timberland stores along the way. Locations along Fifth and Madison avenues are often some of the largest and best-stocked in the country, such as the Banana Republic flagship store at Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue, where you'll find the retailer's more upscale Monogram collection for men and women.
And, of course, for a true New York shopping experience, check out a sample sale -- special sales where manufacturers get rid of unwanted inventory at a deep, deep discount. Although quality varies wildly, and sample-sale etiquette usually consists of people trying on clothes in the middle of aisles and even ripping things out of other shoppers' hands, sample sales allow devoted bargain hunters to snatch up premium clothes and accessories for mere pennies on the dollar.
While sample sales are usually held off-site, many department stores and even boutiques suddenly seem to be practically giving away large portions of their inventory. Because of the severe curb in consumer spending, department stores especially are reeling and they're reacting with sudden, steep price slashes.
Because these sales begin with almost no notice, you'll need to do some research if you want to take advantage of them on a trip. These Web sites often have up-to-the minute details about sample sales, markdowns at department stores, boutiques and online sales and discount codes.
At http://forum.purseblog.com/deals-and-steals/, thousands of women share their knowledge about getting designer goods at a major discount. With more than 150,000 members, including many in the fashion industry, this forum is a gold mine of information. The "Sales and Codes" Board at www.fashionism.org/boards/ has more of an emphasis on online discounts, but members also frequently post about in-store sales and sample sales.
Whether you're in a boutique or a department store, to find out about sales, simply ask. No one should ever feel uncomfortable about shopping the sales rack, a practice that is becoming more and more common.
Surprisingly, New York also is a great city to spend very little money because so many things are free. Window shopping is more fun this time of year with holiday displays. The most famous -- Macy's -- were unveiled Nov. 23 under the theme "Believe," and some windows appear to be mimicking a cartoonish, futuristic Santa's workshop decked out in psychedelic colors. The special attraction this year is an interactive window where an external control panel allows viewers to manipulate a giant crane, pick up ingredient "bubbles" and drop them into a giant arcade game.
Bloomingdale's windows were inspired by Tony Bennett's newest holiday album with a nostalgic twist. Scenes of families celebrating Christmas and enjoying the holidays mimic pop- up greeting cards with a vintage feel. Lord & Taylor, Barney's and Saks also put up holiday window displays.
A holiday visit to New York wouldn't be complete without a visit to Rockefeller Center. The Christmas tree there will remain lighted through Jan. 9.
Ice skating at Rockefeller Center may be a holiday tradition, but if the lines are too long or you'd like a less expensive option, try the public rinks in Central Park, Bryant Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, on the Hudson River at 145th Street and new rinks at the South Street Seaport on Fulton and the American Museum of Natural History on Columbus Avenue.

(China Millman can be reached at cmillman(at)post-gazette.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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