Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

March 9, 2015

Shopping at the Gabe's Grand Opening Event!

     This past weekend I was offered a very cool opportunity for my blog! I was e-mailed by Gabe's, a regional discount store chain that sells name brand items for up to 70% off, that is just starting to expand into the North Carolina area. They were opening their first NC stores this past Saturday in Gastonia (about 30 mins west of Charlotte) and Greensboro. I was invited to attend the Gastonia store opening as a featured blogger! Of course I said yes! I was even more excited when I learned that the other blogger attending was my Charlotte-based fashion blogger friend Morgan from How 2 Wear It.

     Back when I attended my former college, I used to be in the Gastonia area fairly often. Gastonia was home to the nearest large mall to my old school, and was the halfway point between my former school and Charlotte. The last time that I visited my old college (or Gastonia) was last Labor Day Weekend, so it was nice to be back in the area!! I still knew my way around and didn't even have to use GPS to find Gabe's after seeing the address. :-)


      I had a wonderful time at the store opening! This was my first time shopping at a Gabe's store, as they don't have locations in Maine and didn't previously have locations in NC either. As much as I do love to splurge on occasion, y'all know that I have a weakness for a good bargain. Gabe's reminded me a little bit of a regional discount chain that is only located in Maine, called Marden's. Some of my friends from high school refuse to shop at Marden's and say it can be sketchy... but I personally LOVE Marden's and have found some amazing stuff there (like Nine West shoes, Express jewelry, etc!). Here is a Marden's commercial for you to get a taste of my homestate:



     Anyways, I found Gabe's to be an overall much more visually appealing store than Marden's! ;-) As soon as I walked into the store, I couldn't get over how new, clean, and organized everything looked. All of the displays looked so eye-catching and Morgan and I couldn't wait to get shopping!




     This clothing display featured a whole rack of clothing from popular mall clothing store- and most items were marked at $9.99! How awesome is that?! (I loved that blue shirt right in the front but sadly it was sold out in my size :-( )

     Since it was the official grand opening day for the Gabe's in Gastonia, there were so many fun things happening all around the store! For the first 200 people in line that morning there were free t-shirts given out, and breakfast to all who waited in line! And once the store opened, there was a face painting station for kids, as well as $50 gift card giveaways every fifteen minutes for the first three hours that the store was open!! (And then the giveaways continued every hour throughout the afternoon.) Sometimes the store got creative with the giveaways... one of them was like a pep rally featuring sales associates dashing around the store with balloons yelling chants all about Gabe's! Too fun!



    I found so many awesome goodies at Gabe's that ended up coming home with me! One of my favorite finds was a great pair of new workout leggings. I'll try and feature them soon in a workout attire OOTD post! But another one of my favorite things that I found were these cute jewelry items!


      These fun beaded bangle bracelets are from a popular mall store, and the Gabe's price for them was only 99 cents!! I couldn't even believe it! And look at how darling these little stud earrings are! They remind me a lot of Kate Spade studs. And those were only $1.99!



     Morgan and I both had a wonderful time shopping at Gabe's! Thank-you again to Gabe's for inviting us to come and blog about the opening event in Gastonia. :-) I know that I'm already looking forward to the great bargains that I'll discover on my next trip back!


     On a totally different note- I leave this morning for my Spring Break trip to the Dominican Republic!! (I spent last year's Spring Break there as well!) I am so excited to have a week off from this stressful semester and only focus on rest and relaxation (and lots of reading for FUN :-) ). I do have a blog post scheduled to go up for later in the week, so things won't be totally dead around here, but *please* make sure that you're following me on Instagram! Y'all know that I'm an Insta addict and of course I will be posting updates there throughout my trip! Follow me: @miss_alk

     (Also- I think I'm going to be making my Snapchat story public during my trip as well! My Snapchat username is the same name as my Instagram: miss_alk. We will see how this public story thing goes!  Maybe it'll stick around after the trip.)


      xoxo Miss ALK
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4 comments

  1. I've never heard of Gabes until now, but to me it seems like a TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack (both I absolutely adore!) Fingers crossed they open a location here next!

    Pick Your Beau

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  2. Loved your post! I'm thinking of making my Snapchat story public too. Let me know if you liked doing it after your trip :) Have fun!

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  3. Ooh that looks like fun. We have a discount store called Burke's in KY but I rarely shop there since I rarely shop these days. Have fun on your trip!

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  4. We have Gabe's in Ohio and I love it! It can also get kinda sketchy but I don't mind for the good bargains you can often find! I love looking for luggage and shoes at the local Gabe's! So glad you got an opportunity like this! It sounds like you two had a blast shopping and checking out the new store! Have a wonderful vacation! XOXO

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