all linen'ed out

Ah, the home of method's original premium candle line, and for quite a while after Target, method's bowling pin dish soap bottle, is about to be no more, (possibly) another victim of our bad ole' economy. Linens and Things is going out of business. And this might be a chance for you to pick up some method goodies, cheap!

In fact, on a trip there tonight (to hunt out the Nate Berkus line they carr(ied) because there was this blanket that I dreamed about for nights over years at a time, but uh, could never afford the thing cause it was like $80.; but that blanket was so fluffy and cool, and creamy, and I can't even explain it, and all the Nate Berkus stuff was uh, gone. I asked, and the guy said they had shipped it all out a while ago. Hmm, I say? Shipped to where? Ah well, it wasn't to be, my little blankie, it wasn't to be... sniff.) Oh yeah, the point of this post! I actually found a method omop, and plenty of old school method wipes! All for 10% off! Ok, ok, so you might want to give the big "final sale" a while to get bigger, because right now it's only 10%-30% off (and uh, yeah, everything was !0% off. There wasn't a 30% to be found, except on all the window signs, mind you.) But sooner or later, there might be cool savings to find on method goodies at Linens and Things.

So let's all pause for a moment of silence, and quiet sheet folding. (Cause you get linens at Linens and Things, and those include sheets, and they're going out of... oh forget it.) Thanks to reader Stephen for the heads up!

the ultimate form of flattery?

Another moment wishing I'd had my camera with me. (Does Nathan ever learn, no, Nathan does not.) So I wandered into the Dollar Store, searching around for some grand deal over the weekend (how much is this toilet brush? ONE dollar! Sold! How about this flashlight? Only a dollar, too! Wow! What about this Hello Kitty wall clock? Oh, oh, everything is a dollar? And you get really sick of people asking you how much things are, when it's called the Dollar Store, eh? Oh, ok. So sorry. Uhm, so, how much is this candy bar? Fifty cents? HA!, caught ya! No, no, wait, I want to purchase my Hello Kitty wall clock, I promise to be good, please don't ban me from the Dollar Store... Please!) And I stumbled upon something interesting.

The Dollar Store is "competing" with method! Can you believe that one? They actually have a brand of cleaning supplies (actually they're only spray cleaners) called Solutions. They come in bottles that look exactly like the original method spray cleaner line (before they had their square bottoms) and in bright, happy friendly colors, and with aromatherapy style scents. Do they smell like essential oils? Uh, NO. In fact, the only call out on the packaging as to being "earth friendlish" was a statement to the nature of "these cleaners are biodegradable." But what are you expecting, when you're going to pay one dollar? What surprised me was simply the fact that method has had such an impact on the cleaning market (a fact we've known for quite some time, of course) that the Dollar Store felt the need to get in on some copycat action. There's no comparison, of course, but it's interesting no matter.

So it ends there, right? I mean, we all know the "Big Brands" are starting to parade out their earth friendly products (i.e. Clorox Greenworks); but the point I'm trying to get across here (and I'm not always too good about getting my point across, trust me on that one! Oh, wait, you read this blog regularly, you already know that, don't you.) but it's that smaller "no name" labels are getting on the bandwagon, trying to take up a small percentage of method's niche. In I go to Linens N' Things this weekend as well, and what do I see, among a couple leftover method items (they used to carry method products, but seem to have stopped doing that a while ago) but a "new" line called Level. And what does it look like? (Come on, you can say it with me...)

More cleaning spray, the colors, bottle design, on and on. Totally method. I should have been smart enough to check the price? Because I'm curious if they felt bringing in their own line (not sure if Linens N' Things produces Level, but wouldn't be surprised) would result in them being able to make more money/and at a lower price point (method products at LNT were usually always about one dollar more than at Target stores. Not sure if that was a method thing, or a LNT thing, but I'm thinking it was a LNT thing.) Just another acknowledgement that method is definitely making an impact in the cleaning products market, and it's not just the Big Guys that are taking notice.

dear linens n' things

Dear Linens N' Things,

I'm writing you this letter to apologize. I'm very sorry I did what I did. All I was attempting to do was check out what method products you may still have been carrying in your store, and noticed that bottle of Lavender hand wash refill way, way, WAY up high on the shelf, in the cleaning products department.

Now, I'm a rather tallish kind of guy. A good six feet. I thought perhaps I could reach it, but that was definitely a no go. And you know, it's not like I needed the hand wash refill, but thought maybe it was on clearance, and curiousity did indeed get this cat. Yes, I could have went over, and grabbed one of those step ladders you were selling, right next to the cleaning products. I could have just "borrowed" it to use, to step right up and easily grab that refill bottle. But no, unfortunately I don't work that way. I decided I would simply grab one of those dusters you were selling behind me, with the long handles. That would work great, I thought. Just a light push, down it would fall gently like a feather, I would catch it, and be happily on my way. Really, seriously, that was my goal. Yeah, I know the hand wash bottle wasn't being very cooperative, I had to push it around a bit up there way high on the shelf, and it fell over slightly, onto another cleaner bottle; and I worried it might end up knocking a couple other items down, which was furtherest from my desires. - But never the less, I persevered.

And suddenly, the refill bottle broke free, I was at the home stretch! Just reach out your hands, catch the falling bottle, and all will be...

splat! Really, LNT, I'm so sorry. Somehow, in my girly cringing at being pelted in the head with method products, I didn't exactly catch the bottle, it hit the floor, the lid broke off and a tiny stream of lavender loveliness spilt forth. Not too much, mind you. Nothing devastating, but none the less. Why some of it even landed on my shoe. And yes, in my moment of embarrassment, I may not have told anyone about it, and simply picked up the bottle, set it up nice and neat, and scampered out the door. I'm sure most of the tiny bit of hand wash that did escape was soaked up by the carpeting, anyway. But still, I'm not proud of this moment of non-disclosure.

So Linens N Things, I simply wanted to let you know that I was sorry. It won't happen again. Mainly because you don't carry method products any longer. But also because I'm no longer allowed around long handled dusters. Hopefully moving forward, you can once again gain my trust, when shopping with you.

Sincerely,
Nathan at methodlust