Today and Friday (June 4-5) all of CVS’ store brands are discounted 40 percent online only. That’s a great discount on what I consider to be one of CVS’ best deals. The prices on prescription drugs, for example, are rarely price-competitive without insurance at CVS or Walgreens. But the store brands at either pharmacy retailer are an exception. At 40 percent off already low prices, you just can’t beat the prices on over-the-counter medicines, baby wipes, dental floss, bathroom tissue made from recycled paper, lotions, and even food products. Shipping is free on orders over $50. And all CVS’ private labels are guaranteed. If you’re not happy with an item, take it back to a store for a refund, even if you purchased it online.

Too bad this sale isn’t available in the stores. Usually, the store sale on private labels is “buy one, get one at half-off” which is really only a 25 percent savings. Through Saturday, the store is not discounting its own brands but that may change Sunday.

These prices beat even Drugstore.com, which offers some good deals.

Who else is a fan or CVS or Walgreens store brands?

Dealspotter Matt passed along a tip for golfers. Austad’s in Blaine (648 NE. County Rd. 10, 763-784-4202) is losing its lease at the end of July. A store rep said Wednesday that the store is expected to remain open through July or August. Everything is currently at least 15 percent off. Clothing is discounted more heavily. This is a good opportunity to pick up pro-line irons that never go on sale from Nike or Calloway.

Thanks for the tip, Matt. If you spot a retailer with “store closing” signs in the window or new markdowns in a department store or a great happy hour special, let me know. I may include it in the blog.

 Re: Suggestions for Target. I forwarded my post “Hey Target, could you do these 10 things for us?” to a Target representative.  When I get a response, I’ll pass it along.

When Target placed full page ads Sunday asking what more the discounter can do for us, I was curious about shoppers’ responses. I asked you to tell me what me what you would tell Target and more than 100 of you did so. After reading the comments, many of them contradictory, I sympathize with a big box retailer that can never be all things to all customers. Still, a few suggestions stood out as hitting the bulleye, in my opinion.

1. Improve the quality and quantity of your plus-size fashions. Find a corpulent celebrity or designer and make him/her create affordable, fashionable clothing. Hire Kirstie Alley to model them and then schedule a fashion show on Oprah. Diets and fitness crazes notwithstanding, plus sizes are not a fad. We’re a fat society. Accept it. Now help us look better.

2. Enough with the Target Visa solicitations at the checkout. It’s annoying and it’s gotten old. Although it made Target a lot of money in interest, now it’s blowback time. Find another way to reward your cashiers. See #3.

3. Train cashiers to say “hello” and “thank you.” Reward them when they do. But let’s be real. Don’t have them ask, “Did you find everything you were looking for?” because that’s a waste of the customer’s and the cashier’s time. Target doesn’t have the ability to answer such questions quickly. You’re not a mom-and-pop shop.

4. Make it easier to return gifts from the wedding and baby registries.

5. Train cashiers how to bag groceries. Bread goes on top. Customers who bring their own reusable bags probably don’t want frozen items placed in plastic bags.

6. Allow online purchases to be shipped to a store free. Wal-Mart and REI allow it.

7.  Show some love for the Y chromosome.  Wal-Mart kicks your butt in sporting goods, automotive, and the paint departments.

8. Drop the Global Bazaar department in January. We know that if we wait two or three weeks after the temporary department is set up, it’ll be marked down 25 percent. If we wait four or five weeks it will be 50 to 90 percent off. Nice stuff, nice global awareness, but we’re on to you.

9. Wait until November 1 to put up holiday decor. Note we didn’t say Thanksgiving. We’re somewhat realistic, but mixing Christmas and Halloween decor is just wrong. Be a leader and take a stand. Christmas fatigue is real.

10. Pay more attention to shoppers who need scooters or handicapped carts.

11. Make prices the same at all of your stores. OK, I’m just kidding about this one. It infuriates customers when they see baby formula for 75 cents more at the Apple Valley store compared to Eagan. But c’mon people, do you ask Super America to standardize its gas prices at all of its stations too? Never gonna happen.

In April when I wrote that about Target being about 4 percent higher priced than Wal-Mart, based on a sampling of about 30 items, hundreds of loyal Target shoppers took it personally and complained to me in writing. By giving Wal-Mart its due and naming its one clear advantage (lower prices) over Target, it’s like I kicked a member of the family when she was down.

 Target’s aim may be a bit off in this economy, but if you’d like to see it hitting the bullseye again, let Target know how it can do better. On Sunday, the hometown company took out full-page ads asking us to email our ideas on what more Target can do for us. Send your ideas to more@Target.com.

 I started small. I told them that I want the Minneapolis store on Lake Street to sell bananas, even though it’s not a SuperTarget. Other Target stores already do. On a bigger scale, I complimented them for bringing back the competitive price match policy and encouraged them to roll it out nationwide because it’s only in effect in the downtown Minneapolis and Medina stores as a test.

Let me know how you’re going to make Target a better place for all of us to shop. In other words, how will you sound off to Target?

  Â

Four local restaurants, Edina Grill in Edina, Highland Grill in St. Paul, 3 Squares in Maple Grove and Longfellow Grill in Minneapolis, offer you a 50-50 chance at a free breakfast today, June 1, from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. During the “Flip a Coin” day, a manager comes to your table, flips a coin, someone at the table calls it, and if the customer calls heads or tails correctly, the breakfast is free for the table. There are no limits on the amount of the check. For example, a table of six with a $75 bill can get a free breakfast if one lucky person calls it right. Alcohol is excluded from the freebie. Some restaurants have a 1 hour call-ahead if you’d like to make a reservation.

In my column last week about Buy One Get One Free sales at grocery stores, I commented that sometimes buyers might not want two of an item. Barb Schaller wrote that she uses the BOGO program to its fullest by buying what she can use (even if only one) and donating the second ones to local food shelves. For information on a food shelf near you, call the United Way’s 211 service or drop the non-perishable items off in the food shelf bins at most supermarkets.

Since the food shelf needs are expanding, this is a win-win. Plus, the donations are tax-deductible. Keep your receipts. Â

If a paint job is in your future, this weekend is a good time to buy the paint. Many manufacturers put paint on sale during holiday weekends in the spring and summer. Sherwin-Williams stores have discounted their paint 30 percent through Monday. Home Depot has one-gallon cans of Behr paint $5 off or $20 off 5-gallon pails (with mail-in rebates). I single out Behr because its Premium Plus Enamel interior paint is top-rated by Consumer Reports and it’s comparatively cheap ($22 to $25 per gallon before the rebate). 

A good paint can add another three to six years between jobs, according to Consumer Reports. Its top-rated exterior paints cost $20 to $40 per gallon. In the June 2009 issue, the top picks after nine years of testing are M.A.B. Seashore Satin ($40/gal.), Kilz Casual Colors (Wal-Mart, $20 to $23), Valspar Ultra Premium Duramax Satin (Lowe’s, $33), California 2010 flat ($38). The top exterior picks after six years of testing are California Fresh Coat Velvet Flat ($34), Behr Premium Plus Flat or Semigloss and Behr ($20 to $35) and Ace Hardware Royal Shield ($22 to $25).

For interior paints, Consumer Reports liked the following flats in its March 2009 issue:
Behr Premium Plus Enamel (Home Depot, $22), Valspar Signature Colors (Lowe’s, $27) and Olympic Premium (Lowe’s, $17).
Eggshell/satin: Behr Premium Plus Satin (Home Depot, $24), Benjamin Moore Regal ($45) and Kilz
Casual Colors Satin (Wal-Mart, $23). Semigloss: Benjamin Moore Regal ($45), Sears Best Easy Living Ultra ($25)Behr Premium Plus Enamel (Home
Depot, $25) and Kilz Casual Colors (Wal-Mart).  

Expensive paint might be overkill in the garage, basement or doghouse. If you’re on a budget, you may have relegated yourself to the shelves of mistints and recycled paints.

Paint Liquidators (3869 Minnehaha Av. S., Minneapolis, 612-310-1302) sells Behr, Sherwin-Williams, Glidden,
Ralph Lauren, Benjamin Moore, DeVine and others for $4 to $8 per gallon and $1.50 to $2 per quart. A small selection of low or no-V.O.C. paint
is for sale, too. Five-gallon buckets of paint are available for $20 to $30. Ten colors of recycled paint from Fridley-based Amazon Environmental paint are always
in stock for $40 to $45 per 5-gallon bucket. For most colors, only a gallon or two are available. If you need more, a paint store that sells the same brand of paint can match the color for the needed amount.

The store has hundreds of mis-tints and recycled paints, but it’s not for someone with very specific color preferences. Primers, sealers, faux finishes and floor paint are also usually available. Paints come from a major hardware store chain and other sources.

Other budget options include Abbott Paint (gallons $10 at 1808 Grand Av., St. Paul, 651-698-5518), ReUse Center (gallons $3 to $4 and quarts $2 to $3 at 2801 21st Av. S., Minneapolis, 612-724-2608), Hirshfield’s locations (gallons and quarts $5 or less) and Sherwin Williams locations (gallons $2 to $3 and quarts 50 cents to $1). 

 For free paint, try your county environmental recycling center. Check the blue pages in the phone book under a county’s “environmental services.”

The discounts during Memorial Day weekend aren’t usually as good as July 4 or Labor Day, but the selection is better. You’ll still find a swimsuit in your size and patio furniture sets with four or six chairs instead of three or five. Here’s a start of some of the better sales. I’ll keep adding as I discover more.

Ikea’s Seize the Days sales are excellent bargains. Remember when Ikea hardly ever had a sale? Now they’re monthly. Different bargains occur Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Go early because they usually sell out by afternoon. Nab your selection when the store opens and then go for the free breakfast offered each day while supplies last. Saturday’s deal is the iconic Poang chair for $39 (reg. $90), Sunday’s deal is a 2-pack of Ritva curtains and tiebacks in five color options for $10 (reg. $30). Monday’s deal is he Beddinge Lovas sofa-bed for $149 (reg. $249). The Expedit bookcase is on sale all three days for $49 (reg. $90).

Arc’s Value Village, Unique Thrift and Savers all discount everything 50 percent Monday.

 If you’re traveling and heading by an outlet mall, it’s usually pretty good one-stop shopping during a holiday weekend. You might want to stop at the mall office for coupons or join the mall’s VIP club online for exclusive coupons. Me, I usually check the clearance at the back of the outlets before checking out the regular outlet merchandise.

 Stay safe. Let me know of other good deals this holiday weekend that you discover.   Â

I didn’t catch the H1N1 flu and I have not been a recent victim of identity theft as far as I know. Both menaces seems overblown for most of us, but that doesn’t mean precautions shouldn’t be taken. The good news is that full-blown ID theft when someone commits crime using your name, Social Security Number or other information occurred in only one percent of U.S. households in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Much more common is the thief who uses your existing credit or debit card account to steal money. But it’s a relief to know that about 60 percent of ID theft victims pay nothing out of pocket because the bank usually picks up the whole tab, even though individuals might be responsible for the first $50.

Here are four tips from the Consumer Federation of America and Consumer Reports to protect your information that cost little or nothing.

1. Stop the “You’re pre-approved!” credit offers. Call 1-888-567-8688 to get off mailing lists for credit and insurance offers. You will be required to give your SSN.

2. Get your free annual credit report from the three credit reporting agencies (Transunion, Equifax and Experian) by calling 1-877-322-8228, going to www.annualcreditreport.com or mailing your request to Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Do not use www.freecreditreport.com. It isn’t free.

3. Place security freezes on your credit reports to prevent anyone from looking at your credit report except for companies that already have a financial relationship with you. It can cost up to $30 per person to file at the three credit bureaus. 

4. Place fraud alerts on your credit reports. It tells lenders that you may be the victim of ID theft. It’s free and it lasts 90 days. Go to the website of one of the three major credit bureaus. It will alert the other two. You’ll have to renew it every 90 days. Fraud alerts by private companies such as LifeLock, Namesafe or TrustedID often cost $100 per year or more.

For individuals wanting more security against ID theft, check out PQS Inc, a Chaska company that sells protection mostly to businesses as an employee perk. PQS’s product is offered to employees  at Microsoft, University of Iowa, and Arizona Public Radio. The protection is currently on sale for $56 to $78 for a year of coverage, a 60 percent discount through May 31. The service includes two parts: ID theft protection (www.Securisphere.us) and a secure digital database for storage of health information, records, codes, and home valuables inventory (www.thepersonalrecordsvault.com).

PQS’s CEO Dianne Cutter said that the company’s protection plans offer more than most ID theft protection plans. If a person signed up for credit monitoring through TrueCredit, a competitor, the fee would be $143 to $179. At PQS, members also get to see their credit scores as often as they want (free!), for which most agencies charge $10 per look. Also, PQS will research any breaches in identity by assigning a case manager.

I might do a more complete followup on identity theft. Please let me know about any experience you have had with identity theft or ID theft programs, especially PQS.  Â

Carrie Rocha, whose Pocket Your Dollars blog offers good insight into Twin Cities’ deals, suggest that Wednesday, May 20, is the day to get about 15 items free, thanks to Rainbow’s  double coupon day on Wednesdays. Other good deals at Rainbow this week include strawberries for $1.50 per 1-lb. package and frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5.99, even cheaper than Aldi’s everyday low price by a few cents.  For more information on the free items, go to

http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/2009/05/rainbow-shopping-list-517-52309/

This week and part of next week are also a good time for BOGO (buy one, get one free) deals at Lunds/Byerly’s. Included in the deals are Bob Evans brats ($6 for 2-19-oz. packages), Smart Chicken whole fryers (save $2.79 per pound), and Arm & hammer detergent ($8 for two 68-80 oz.). Cub Foods will have its next BOGO sale very soon, said a Cub spokesperson. I suspect that means starting Sunday.