Boxing for Boxing Week

With the end of Christmas comes the final exciting shopping period of the year, the Boxing Day. Asides from the special 50% off promotion on certain gift items, FRUGO is taking 30% off on all regular priced items, and 40% off on all Christmas items. Take advantage of great items such as Buffalo watches, Roots watches, Eruitor Ski Jackets, evening jewelry sets, evening bags and so on.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to every FRUGO customer and friend! It is hard to believe that we have come to the 360th day of the year now. After the Christmas break, and short break it is, we will open again on the 26th to start our Boxing Week sale, another happy and competitive period for the sport of shopping. There will be discount at both FRUGO locations, and deep discount for Christmas related items. On behalf of the FRUGO staff we want to wish everyone a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season. Here's our wish to you, referenced from a very old book:
"Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God."

Too hot to handle. No more.

While investigating the kind of knife sets and skillet sets to carry in FRUGO I came across a discussion chain in CHOW.COM. The subject is about the benefit and down side of cast iron skillets. Since it attracted 130 responses, I thought that I would check out what the fuss was about. There were some really good pointers from veteran food lovers on the type of pans and knives to be used for the different occasion, but a couple of comments unrelated to any of that stood out to me:

“….As for hot, I have a silicone handle cover I switch back and forth between the two skillets. It stays there while in use, it’s easy to grip, and it doesn’t slip if I’m moving the pan from stovetop to oven, for instance.”

“… And as for pouring, I do strongly recommend one of the silicone handle covers. Just make sure you get one that fits your skillet. Some cast iron pans have wider handles than a saucepan and the skinny handle covers that are easiest to find won't fit. As I said, the handle cover gives me a good grip. I may sometimes hold the side of the pan with a regular potholder while pouring, but usually I just grip the handle with two hands and it works just fine. I do burn myself like crazy all the time, but on oven racks, not on my cast iron skillets.”

I never realize that the silicone handle covers could be so useful and helpful to the chefs and chef-at-large. FRUGO now carries Trudeau’s skillet handle cover which will fit both the narrow and the wide handles.

Trudeau Silicone Skillet Handle Cover: $6.99

Morning breakfast fast

I have always been intrigued by the egg poacher by Trudeau. I wasn't sure if it would really do the job, and I wasn't sure about the silicone's durability to heat and stickiness. But after researching online and found no adverse effect of the silicone products, I decided to try the egg poacher. This morning again my son and I needed to leave in a hurry, so instead of the usual slice of bread, I used the egg poacher to make two sunny side up.

There really wasn't anything technical about the poacher. The instruction said to set the microwave at medium power, and cook the egg for 40 secs. So I broke two eggs into the poacher, set it inside the microwave with the lid covering the eggs, and started the machine. After 40 secs I checked the eggs. They looked partly cooked and a bit liquid, so I gave them another 10 secs. This time they looked perfect! I spooned them out of the poacher and had my son try them in the car. He said that they tasted fine! I made myself another two eggs later, and they did taste quite pure, just like a boiled egg, but in a sunny side up style. I then tried to clean the poacher to see if the silicone was really that resilient to stickiness of food. Sure enough, it was really easy to scrub off the egg residue. The poacher looked like new.

To me this is really a great time saver. From now on I can make a couple of good sunny side up breakfast in 50 secs, and the cleaning can be done in 10 secs. And the eggs look much rounder than my regular sunny side up, which required more work and oil. I felt eating eggs this way could even be healthier. Maybe I will make my wife the breakfast for a change from now on. I think she will like that idea very much.

Silicone Egg Poacher for two: 500F/260C, for microwave and covered skillet, $15.99

(There is also a model for four eggs)

Dinning room beware

When we brought in the dinning chairs and tables, no one was paying any attention to them except for the people who set them up and priced them. I was told that our chairs and dining tables would fly out of the door because of their quality and incredible price. The solid wood table was heavy and extendable, the chairs were elegant and sturdy. Both of them were 30-40% cheaper than anywhere else. The deal was especially crazy for the chairs. They have a combo discount if they were bought in pairs for an additional 20% off. But the fly-off-the shelf didn't happen until our store and the chair deal was introduced in a life style magazine. I got excited and phoned the wholesaler to get a hold of more stock, but they could only give me enough chairs for five more families. The chairs were just too hot for the market in the past few weeks. I got those chairs in stock now, and I thought I should let people know. Come to think of it, maybe I should hold on to a few for myself.

Elegance Faux Leather Chair, Dark Brown: 1/$79.99, 2/$127.99 (compare to $132 per chair in market)

Union Solidwood Dining Table, Brown, 3'x3' to 3'x 4.5': $299 (compare to $500 in market)

Personal and new favorite

I have decided to get personal on this blog, as opposed to sounding really commercial. After all, there are real people behind FRUGO, and they also happen to be our most critical customers. Sharing their feedback will definitely help everyone, and today the note-worthy product is an Avocado Cutter.

If you like avocado, you know the benefit of it. If you don't, then you might want to know that avocado is considered an almost complete food. It is rich in potassium and vitamin A, which is great for skin healing. It is also a great add-on to salad, shell seafood and many other things. There is even a site devoted to avocado recipes: http://www.avocadorecipes.net/.

However, cutting avocado can be a messy process. Our family has found that this avocado cutter really makes the job so much easier and better. The cutter has three edges for the different purposes: the long edge is used for cutting open the fruit, the narrow edge is used for taking out the large seed, and lastly the larger round edge is used for taking out the flesh. We like it when a gadget really solves a problem.

Trudeau & Frugo

FRUGO is proud to carry many of the famous Trudeau kitchen gadgets. Since 1889 Trudeau has built its expertise and reputation on supplying innovative and quality designed products. Here are just some of the items we have in the store. We also offer catalogue order for all the Trudeau products. Their products can also be found online at http://www.trudeau.ca/.

The hottest item right now is the Automatic Oil/Vinegar Bottle $6.99. The lid opens as you tilt the bottle, and closes as the bottle returns to the up right position. There is a lip around the dispenser, so the oil will drip back into the bottle and not onto the table.

To celebrate store opening, an array of giftwares are at 50% off. Some of the items have already been sold out.

Suit rack for a jacket and a pair of pants, can be folded and hid inside a closet or under the bed, originally $24, now at a incredible 75% off of $6. Only fewer than 10 racks left.

Beautiful handbags from Italian leather brand VIA SPIGA, American fashion brand Derion and XOXO bags at 46% off their regular price.

DKNY, Liz Claiborne, Ann Taylor winter overcoat and vests are 46% off.

New arrival of Trudeau brand of kitchen gadgets will definitely add fun and colour to your cooking experience. The dehygration bottle provides both drink and mist to hard working men and women at the gym for $10.99.

Frugo Markham is now open!

Finally, FRUGO Markham is ready and open for business on Oct 2nd. After three long and winding weeks of hard work and preparation, we could peel off the cover that was blocking the wall of windows from the sun shine. The entire store lid up right away after the cover was gone. It now looks spacious and airy. Come to the store and you will find something unique and interesting. A neighbourhood department store is born in a very nice neighbourhood.

After one month

The new FRUGO finally got the permission to go ahead with the renovation. After working on the premise in the entire August, we turned the previous travel agent layout into an airy retail design. The transformation of the carpet floor to a concrete floor was particularly difficult. The contractor had to wear spacesuit and protective mask to sand the concrete floor level and smooth, in the hottest days of the summer! (can't turn on AC as the dust would pollute the ventilation system). With all that hard work, we are finally at the stage of applying for the occupancy permit. This is the last of the 10 approvals issued by the city for a store to be able to open for business. In the mean time, merchandising and stocking are underway. A retail store is gradually taking shape, and we are all excited and exhausted.

After we hung the signage, we heard comments from people about the similarity between our logo and that of a supermarket clothing brand. This was really an undesirable coincident. Our logo was designed in house and was rolled out in Feb 2006 for the first store. We almost flipped when we drove by one of those newly renovated supermarkets and saw the new clothing brand signage. Oh well...

Unionville store now hiring

Nothing can be more testing than to wait for the building permits. Until then, the store renovation will just be sitting pretty. However, many behind the scene activities are still taking place. Now is the time to start staffing. If you are a reliable, friendly and honest person, especially one who likes to keep things tidy and presentable, we would like to meet you! Interested party please send your resume to customerservice@frugostore.com.

Update on Frugo Unionville

Store design is finalized and given to the engineers. They will draft the mechanical drawings and submit to the city for permission to renovate. If you've never started a business before, you can never imagine how much expenses that are upfront and unrelated to the actual merchandise. Normally customers won't appreciate those small items - the layout of the store, the fixture, the signage, the plans required by the city which cost a few thousand dollars and then are stored away forever. With the economy alarms sounding everywhere and everyday, we are still forging ahead to build a space which should be useful and beautiful. We would like to make the ambiance a bit loose and relaxed, so that anyone would feel comfortable walking in. Hopefully we can start some basic demolition going in the next few days. Fall is our target date and we are aiming for it.

3 x More 50% off items. They just kept coming!

Quite frankly, people some time wonder if the retailers jack up the price before marking the discount to create an impression of tremendous savings. If you ask our customers, they can attest to you that at FRUGO we do not have time to play that kind of games, and we do get great deals from time to time. Because these are truly limited deals, we often have customers who regretted that they did not buy the items when they saw the sales. We feel sorry for them, but there is nothing we can do. Even we regretted some time that we didn't save some for our own staff. :(

More new gift items 50% off!!

These items are great for teachers. Missing here is a beautiful Vinegar/Oil set with metal rack, Reg. $6.99, now $3.50 only.

New gift items 50% off!

New items from brand name gift supplier arrived today, including porcelain 3D floral teapots for around $10, toilet brush with ceramic holder for around $5, to martini set, non-stick cooking trays and salt and pepper set etc, all 50% cheaper than regular retail. Available at FRUGO Cedarbrae Mall.

FRUGO Unionville Started

Today marks the beginning of the second store in Unionville, Markham, a suburb which is just north of Toronto. Located on the corner of Hwy 7 and Warden Ave., adjacent to the famous FUTURE SHOP electronic box store, FRUGO Unionville's renovation has officially started today by the demolition crew taking down the existing partition walls and fixtures. This work should be completed in two days. The store will then be ready for the new face lift, transforming into an exotic and casual shopping hideout. We have high expectation on our designer Sam. Can't wait to see what he will come up with for this beautiful neighborhood.

What and Where is FRUGO

FRUGO is a neighborhood concept department store in Toronto, Canada. It offers nineteen departments of merchandise, including kitchenwares, housewares, home decor, lady's accessories, beauty items, bags and jewelries, and everyday clothing for the whole family.
The design of FRUGO is to provide cozy and convenient neighborhood shopping with incredible values and selective items. Please follow this blog to discover what new and special items are.

FRUGO is located in Cedarbrae Mall, 3495 Lawrence Ave. E., on Markham Rd and Lawrence E. Highway 401 exits on Markham Road South. Phone Number 416-431-0088.