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Question:

>: Does Sears take registry’s… Not for the bride, but Craftsmen tools have

>: a good reputation!  I know a good Workmate would be a great groom’s >: present.  Builder’s Square… You need a cabinet to put that china in. >t >  Sue Monroe/Tim Sexsmith

i have to take issue with this comment.  _i_ could really use a jigsaw and a table saw, tho i have no idea where i’d put it.  and who doesn’t need a good screw gun? katharine (definitely the bride) govea

Response:

>|> Thought I’d pitch in from a groom’s point of view – I want to register >|> for a draft beer system from William’s Brewing. >|> >|> Dave and Mare (5/28/94 eeeekks!) >Does Sears take registry’s… Not for the bride, but Craftsmen tools have >a good reputation!  I know a good Workmate would be a great groom’s >present.

– >Bob Portman          

The Service Merchandise Catalog has some power tools and work benches.

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: > : >: Does Sears take registry’s… Not for the bride, but Craftsmen tools have : >: a good reputation!  I know a good Workmate would be a great groom’s : >: present.  Builder’s Square… You need a cabinet to put that china in. : > : >t : >  Sue Monroe/Tim Sexsmith : i have to take issue with this comment.  _i_ could really use a jigsaw and : a table saw, tho i have no idea where i’d put it.  and who doesn’t need : a good screw gun? : katharine (definitely the bride) govea but please don’t take exception with me, my only crime is errant editing.  i was offering simple registry assistance (not sexist anything) to bob and or dave.  my humble apologies if anyone thought otherwise. t —   Sue Monroe/Tim Sexsmith    no death/no stress

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>a table saw, tho i have no idea where i’d put it.  and who doesn’t need >a good screw gun? >katharine (definitely the bride) govea

Not to mention the basic tools I don’t have yet–you know, hammer, screwdriver set, etc etc.  I could kill for a nice handheld electric drill/screwdriver! also the bride  :) — Shannon                        who thinks that everything will be til May 21                     being thrust kicking and screaming into Arrivederci!                   the real world!

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>>a table saw, tho i have no idea where i’d put it.  and who doesn’t need >a good screw gun? >katharine (definitely the bride) govea >Not to mention the basic tools I don’t have yet–you know, hammer, >screwdriver set, etc etc.  I could kill for a nice handheld >electric drill/screwdriver! >also the bride  :)

        Well, this bride was so excited about registering for other things (and ejoying it) that she didn’t remember how many tools she needed and how *expensive* they are!  If she had, she’d have probably registered one more place and she wouldn’t have had to go three rounds with Sears this last month getting first the 1" socket, then the 1 1/8" socket, and *finally* the correct 1 1/16" socket because she’d have had a complete set, including the big ones  (Damn car documentation neglected to say what size socket I needed and the nut wasn’t where I could measure it– who writes that stuff anyway?)         My husband, for all his great qualities, isn’t much help in the tool department  He’s mechanically inclined, but doesn’t like to get dirty.  I think one of my Dad’s fondest memories is me crawling around under the car up to my eyebrows in grease and Michael standing about six feet away in spotless white pants asking if there was anything he could do to help.  I told him to go inside and get me some ice water Ericka (the wife with the car that needs far more work than there         are warm sunny days in Michigan

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Robin: You can register ANYWHERE you want. Many stores don’t have registries per se, but if you’re a regular customer or just really like the place, you can ask them to  set up a registry just for you.  Also, many catalogs like L.L. Bean and Lands’ End now have registries.   If you happen to have the summer 1994 issue of "For the Bride by Demetrios," check out the article I wrote on "Registering in the 90s."  It may give you a couple of ideas you might not have thought of.   I don’t work for the magazine  – I’m a freelance writer — so I’m not trying to sell you on buying it.  It’s just I really put my heart and soul into that story — there was no such information available when I got married — so now I just want to help. Leah

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|> Thought I’d pitch in from a groom’s point of view – I want to register |> for a draft beer system from William’s Brewing. |> |> Dave and Mare (5/28/94 eeeekks!) Does Sears take registry’s… Not for the bride, but Craftsmen tools have a good reputation!  I know a good Workmate would be a great groom’s present. Of course, Sears is the first national place I can think of… how about Builder’s Square… You need a cabinet to put that china in. — Mead Data Central    | do not represent those of   |  …!uunet!meaddata!robert P.O. Box 933         | Mead Data Central           |   Dayton, Ohio 45401   |                             |  

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: |> Thought I’d pitch in from a groom’s point of view – I want to register : |> for a draft beer system from William’s Brewing. : |> : |> Dave and Mare (5/28/94 eeeekks!) : Does Sears take registry’s… Not for the bride, but Craftsmen tools have : a good reputation!  I know a good Workmate would be a great groom’s : present.  Builder’s Square… You need a cabinet to put that china in. I’m sure Sears does…as for Builders Square probably, i know that Home Depot does.  good luck t —   Sue Monroe/Tim Sexsmith    no death/no stress

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>I had a similar registry problem, with people all over the place. >I decided to go with Service Merchandise, but I was not at all >happy with them.  Now, it may just have been that the staff at >the store where I placed my registry was clueless so YMMV.

Hi everyone!   Well, my family is scattered throughout the South, and my husband’s family is from Kansas, and we live in Colorado.  So, we decided to register for our appliances at Service Merchandise, too.  It was a mess.  First, there were some items that never got listed. Then, when people from Kansas bought items, instead of marking them bought, they were deleted from the list. So, we never were sure if some of our things ever made it on the list or if someone bought them. Finally, Eric’s address was really messed up.  We gave them his street address and condo. number.  They didn’t put it into the computer.  A friend of his mom’s (in Kansas) gave them the address and asked them to ship one of the gifts to us, but it never made it here….somewhere between her mouth and their ears, they lost the address. So, after fighting with them, she finally got her money back and instead bought us some of our china at Dillard’s.  We decided to do little if any business with S.M. from now on.  Looks like so far, Service Merchandise isn’t doing too well in Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, or your area of the country.  :) Bye, The new Mrs. Joy Eakins (as of last 1/1/94)

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>(In response to posting about where else to register besides >Crate and Barrel, when guests are spread all over…) >I had this same dilemma (I just posted about it a while back), and >ended up using Macy’s, but I really hated them!  I agree with you >completely.  I suggest you consider using mail order places.   >Williams Sonoma does registry and mail order; and, by all means, >if you want china or crystal, register with Ross Simons or Barrons. >I also just heard that L.L. Bean’s has a registry!  

We did just as Kathleen described — registered at Williams-Sonoma and at Ross-Simons. This seems to cover everyone pretty well. One caveat with Williams-Sonoma is that you can’t register through the catalog. Since I don’t have a store near me, I called one (with catalog in hand) and registered over the phone. The person was quite helpful, but I couldn’t just walk around and look at stuff then decide. Things have been arriving from both places, so (apparently) people have been able to handle this system of registering. Good luck! Eileen — Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill    Dept. of Computer Science This is the place where I made my best mistakes. — Macmanus

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: Ross Simons has a registry.  Also try Williams Sonoma (spelling?). These are both good places.  Simmons has an 800 number; I don’t know about William Sonoma. We have been very pleased with Michael C. Fina Co. so far (1-800-BUY-FINA). We registered there for formal and everyday dishes as well as good glassware and silverware because: 1) they had the best prices we could find, 2) they were recommended by previous customers we knew, and 3) they have an 800 number. Shipping prices are very reasonable, too.  Most of our guests will be from out-of-town, so the 800 number was important to us. No, I am not affiliated with Fina Co. in any way, shape, or form; they are just one of the first companies/organizations in this whole wedding process that have been professional, easy to deal with, and reasonably priced. Also, if there are any popular bridal registry places in your town (e.g. we have a kitchen store here at which *everyone* registers), they might just have an 800 number for your out-of-towners who wish to buy you gifts off your registry. Good luck !    - Lynn (& Pat)      46 days to go, which seems like a large number until you express it as      6 1/2 weeks, at which point it becomes a very little number and the      panic begins to set in….  :-)

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Neither my husband nor I wanted to register with a store for a variety of reasons:  location of guests, overpriced nature of most stores with registries, and we didn’t want china, crystal or silver.  So, what we did instead, was make up our own registry.  We just made a list of all the things we thought we would like to have in a pretty wide range of prices.  We included some name brands but for the most part we didn’t care what brand.  Then we gave a copy of the list to the moms to tell people about.  It worked really well. Actually, we had the list done before Christmas, so we received a bunch of stuff then. (The wedding was the next September.)  In fact, I think we have finally managed to get everything on our list over the last couple of Christmases.   Erica (& Mike) 9/19/92

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|>   Hecht’s is very nice.  I registered there, as did several of my |> friends.  They don’t list the prices on the printout, but the |> salespeople are VERY nice and helpful (at least around here, they are) |> |> Did you check out Leggett/Belk?  I don’t know if there is one where you |> are, but they are a nationwide chain.   Are they really?  I kind of had the impression that they were more or less south-east regional.  I’m pretty sure there aren’t any in the Philadelphia area, at any rate. |> They also were extremely |> considerate, helpful, courteous, and They even list the prices on the |> printout.  They also give you several options for how you want the gift |> to arrive (at the wedding, which is very common where I live;UPS, etc.) |> |> email me for more info |> |> Shannon |> 6-11-94! |> — |    Cathy Moore     | These opinions are mine, not those of the University| |                    | that I should be learing German.  (The dissertation | |                    | is FINISHED, and I’m defending on Friday!)          |

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I had a similar registry problem, with people all over the place. I decided to go with Service Merchandise, but I was not at all happy with them.  Now, it may just have been that the staff at the store where I placed my registry was clueless so YMMV.  They made several errors on entering the info, and despite 4 calls and two personal visits to correct them, they were never fixed. In one case a stock number was not being accepted by their computer, and they just kept thinking I had given them the wrong number instead of getting up off their chairs and going to look at the display.  Some things were not updated when purchased — though that could be the fault of the purchaser for not saying it was a registry item.  And when I took back the one duplicate item (without a receipt), I got only the sale price of the item — even though the item was not on sale at the time.  I know this is common practice for stores in general, especially at Christmas. But it seemed to me that if you register with a store, you are bringing (potentially) a great deal of business your way, and are in a situation where you are unlikely to have a receipt they could at least give you the benefit of the doubt for say a month after your wedding date.  Or else they could do what a local department store does which is to give "gift receipts" which have all necessary information encoded on them, but do not show the price.  So this could be included with the gift without disclosing the price.  Gee — sorry to rant so much.  Again, this may just be a localized phenomenon, but it is something to think about. Audrey Springer

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I’ve had a bit of experience registering in the area, so I can give my two cents here.  When I registered, we wanted china and flatware, and that’s all we registered.  We registered at "Kitchen Etc.", as they had the best prices.  The people were okay (and good about exchanging china pieces that were flawed; Royal Daulton seems to be bad about this), and they have place settings in stock in the store, which some places don’t.  They also had a deal where if you were given 7 place settings, you got the 8th one free.  However, they weren’t computerized and the registry doesn’t have prices on it. Filene’s seems to have a nice registry department, and I think they do have prices on the registry printout.  Of course, you can register a larger range of things here.  (My sister is registered here, and seems to find it fine.)  Jordan Marsh also has a fine registry, though I don’t remember whether they have prices listed.  They also were great when my other sister was registered here — the engagement was broken off and Jordan Marsh gave her a check for the flatware she had to return, even though she wasn’t sure it was bought there.  Both are computerized, and I know Filenes will fax the registry elsewhere. My sister (the one registered at Filenes) is also registered at Lechmere, which might be a choice for you if you’re not looking for formal dinnerware.  Their registry is very clearly labeled for price ranges. Some general thoughts on registries:  1) Just because you register somewhere, doesn’t mean that’s where people are going to buy things.  My mother has bought china for her daughters and gifts for others, and she always orders it from Ross Simons, because they have the best prices.  You need to make sure you keep your registry up to date by talking to the place where you’re registered when you get gifts for showers and things like that.  (I know someone who had 16 place settings of china because no one thought to make sure her registry was up to date.  Of course, she also had 300+ people at her wedding….)  2) Pick some place that is convenient for you, especially for where you will be after your wedding.  Most any place has a number where people can call and order something over the phone, and they will probably send a copy of your registry to anyone who wants it.  If something has a problem or you get gift certificates to the store where you registered, you want to be able to go in and do something about it.  3) Register sooner rather than later.  The point of a registry is to suggest to people what you might like if they don’t have ideas for themselves.  If someone throws a shower for you and it doesn’t have a special theme, people will look at your registry if you have one for gift ideas.  (My sister just moved into a new house and we gave them things from their registry for housewarming gifts.  And they’re not getting married until August, but they got china for Christmas.)  If there’s going to be a shower before you leave school, that might help then too. Sorry this has run on so long — good luck and have fun. /Robbin

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>|> >|> Did you check out Leggett/Belk?  I don’t know if there is one where you >|> are, but they are a nationwide chain. >Are they really?  I kind of had the impression that they were more or less >south-east regional.  I’m pretty sure there aren’t any in the Philadelphia >area, at any rate.

I’m from New York and currently in California, and I’ve never even heard of them.  Just FYI.  ;) Miriam (& Jeffry)          Miriam Hoffman       ><><><  "Laughable laughter is cataclysmic."

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Thought I’d pitch in from a groom’s point of view – I want to register for a draft beer system from William’s Brewing. Dave and Mare (5/28/94 eeeekks!)

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|> |> Glad to hear the Crate and Barrel registry went smoothly; we’re |> planning on registering there also. |> |> I was also thinking of registering for stuff with LL Bean and Lands End, |> for that complete continental coverage. Since some of my friends live |> in sort of out of the way places (WayUpThere, New Hampshire; OutInTheSticks, |> Maryland; FarInTheMountains, Colorado), it seemed to be a good idea. |> Any feedback? |> |> We were also considering registering at BEST since it’s nationwide. |> Anybody have experience with them? |>   I used to work for BEST (summers) several years ago, and I don’t think they *had* a registry then.  I’d be interested to know if they do now.  Based on my experience working there, the only warning I’d give is to check their return policy on registry items for which you don’t have receipts.  I suspect that they’d follow their regular "lowest sale price in the last 6 months" policy.  NOTE:  This is only a guess!  I don’t know this for sure. — |    Cathy Moore     | These opinions are mine, not those of the University| |                    | that I should be learing German.  (The dissertation | |                    | is FINISHED, and I’m defending on Friday!)          |

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I just fired off my registry to L.L. Bean’s … haven’t heard anything yet, but people seem to be happy about it.  They have nice shower/bedroom stuff, at average prices, I thought.  Any way, I’ll let everyone know how it goes!   — "Some people are unable to experience even the slightest of life’s pleasures without being thrown into frenzies of analysis."  – P.J. O’Rourke

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I think we need to register fairly soon (hopefully it can wait until June,  after exams), and we’re having trouble thinking of a store that will be  accessible to all of our families and friends.   We know we want to register  at Crate & Barrel, which covers our Boston, Chicago, and D.C. people, but  that leaves a considerable number of people in New York, Philadelphia, and  a few other places (Arizona, Louisiana, Montana). Most people I know did register two places, and just made sure their registries  didn’t overlap.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I know we don’t want  Macy’s, because we bought gifts for a friend there and found it very  inconvient (the registry list doesn’t describe the item or give the price,  so you have to go look at EVERYTHING instead of things in your price range,  and the salespeople had NO CLUE where anything was, and half the stuff wasn’t  even in the store).  Bloomingdale’s has been suggested, and it’s possible,  but I’ve never been crazy about them – I have the impression their stuff is  overpriced, though I don’t know about registry-type stuff.  Department stores  near my hometown include Woodie’s and Hecht’s, and near my school are Filene’s  and Jordan Marsh.  We did wonder if Brookstone’s would be possible – they  have cool stuff like hammocks  but I don’t know that they have a registry  or where their stores are, though I can call and ask. Any ideas?   Thanks for any suggestions! Robin (and Paul) 11/5/94

Response:

(In response to posting about where else to register besides Crate and Barrel, when guests are spread all over…) I had this same dilemma (I just posted about it a while back), and ended up using Macy’s, but I really hated them!  I agree with you completely.  I suggest you consider using mail order places.   Williams Sonoma does registry and mail order; and, by all means, if you want china or crystal, register with Ross Simons or Barrons. I also just heard that L.L. Bean’s has a registry!   I would also check and see if Woodie’s or Jordan Marsh have some related stores that share registries with them.  For some reason, I seem to recall that Woodie’s was in cahoots with some other stores, but it’s been a while since I lived in either DC or Boston, so I could be off base here. Kathleen

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>I think we need to register fairly soon (hopefully it can wait until June, > after exams), and we’re having trouble thinking of a store that will be > accessible to all of our families and friends.  

Robin,         I’ll pitch in my recommendation for Service Merchandise here         again!  They have a wide variety of merchandise at a decent         price, and are nationwide.  They also send you a copy of your         final registery, along with registery cards to include with         your invites (which *I* think is rude, but some people go         for that).         Just a thought, though.  You might want to register a bit         earlier than you think.  I also registered at Kaufmann’s         (popular in Ohio and Pennsylvania), and it took *3 weeks*         for the registery to be entered into the system!  I guess         all the registeries are sent to one location to be entered,         and they had a backlog with all the summer weddings coming         up.  I can’t tell you how long Service Merchandise takes,         I just sent it to them last week…         Have fun!         – Traci (& Alan)           August 20, 1994

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