Tough Love is a quirky and hip boutique located on Hillsborough Street, across from the bulldozer building. It’s been open for about a year, and features clothing and fashion accessories, many of which are from local designers.

Tough Love is running a Black Friday special, as seen in the graphic above. They are selling everything at 10% off, and will be adding an extra 5% off if you bring a donation of clothing or non-perishable foods for the Interact Womens Shelter. What makes the Tough Love Black Friday special so interesting is that in addition to offering a discount on goods sold, they will be serving Mimosas from opening time (7:00AM) until noon.
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STUFF Consignment, as you may have guessed from the name, is a consignment boutique. It is located in the Warehouse District downtown. This Friday, they will be running a 20-70% off sale (continuing until Sunday), so stop by to find some real treasures in clothing, furniture, art, or other home furnishings you won’t find at the mall.

If you are in the market for clothing, I highly recommend checking this place out. I would recommend it even more so if you are fashionably challenged like I am. They have a fantastic selection of very stylish name-brand clothing, at great prices. I started buying my clothes here somewhat recently, and now can’t imagine buying at a traditional retail outlet.
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Near the corner of Wilmington and Hargett Streets lie one of the few retail businesses downtown – Taz’s. The business pictured above is one of three convenience stores owned and operated by Taiseer Taz Zarka. Although Taz’s stores (three of them now) may seem new, he’s been a part of the downtown retail scene for seventeen years. Prior to opening the first convenience store a few blocks down, he had a stake in the convenience store previously in that location.

Taz with a photo of his two children

Taz has a very a contagious optimism in everything he speaks of. Whether it is his wife (who was one of the first 50 employees of SAS), his children, his business, or downtown – he has a lot to share, and a lot of grand ideas. You can’t help but smile as you hear him talk.
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