Shopping in the States

[ronandannette]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this. We are planning to go over the border this summer just to shop. DD15 has worn a uniform to school for the last 3 years and in the fall she'll be going to a school where she can wear "regular" clothing so to say the least she wants to shop til we drop. Which has better shopping -- Kalispell or Great Falls. We're coming from Edmonton, stopping one night in Lethbridge.

I'd imagine you'd find more in Great Falls, it's about 5x the size of Kalispell. If you're not looking for anything in particular though, the Ross, TJ Maxx, JC Penny, Target and even their Wal-Mart had amazing deals on clothes and shoes, and absolutely NO END of selection. If your kid is into labels though, like West 49, American Eagle, Gap, Bilabong, etc. then you'd probably do better shopping in Calgary and just suck up the price. It is Montana after all, not Seattle or L.A.

Good Luck (sorry I forgot the waving smiley)

Annette

 

[Angiet]

If you don't mind, ronandannette, what "issues" did you have. Does Kalispell have a walmart? What stores do they have?

 

[sunshinemummy]

Great Falls may be bigger but it does not have a TJ maxx or Ross stores and the Target is on the small side. Great Falls does have a super walmart. I also like Kohl's and there are none in MT.

 

[ronandannette]

If you don't mind, ronandannette, what "issues" did you have. Does Kalispell have a walmart? What stores do they have?

Kalispell had an "awsome" Wal-Mart!! Not that it was much bigger than the ones we have here, but the stuff in it was really different. I loved it. In Kalispell there is also a TJ Maxx, Ross, Target, Colombia Sports Wear, Best Buy, Costco and Lowes out along the highway in "big-box" plazas. In the mall (where the hotel was) about the only stores of note are JC Penny, Bath and Bodyworks, Boarders Books and Payless Shoes (you will NOT BELIEVE how much cheaper the same shoes are there than here!!).

That is a TON of shopping for such a little town.

As to the hotel, the basic problem is that not ALL the rooms have ALL the amenities that are listed on the hotel booking engines. We booked a "Deluxe King" and we got one, however this particular one didn't have a bath tub or pay movies and video games. We were able to move on the 2nd night up to something they considered to be a "suite" since it was the only room with a king bed in the hotel that also had a bath tub. They were happy enough to move us and I really appreciated not having to argue with them. The move also solved the problem of the noise; the first room fronted out onto I-93 and was super loud 'til all hours. If you go, I recommend you don't use a booking engine. Call the hotel directly and make sure they understand what your expectations are. That said, do consider checking it out as the beds are unbelievably comfortable and we were quite satisfied overall.

Annette