For Casual Wear, Trek to Territory Ahead

The outlet for the Territory Ahead catalog is truly wonderful and well worth the drive to Santa Barbara if you like the classic, unisex look in casual clothes.

Shop the back room, where the merchandise is “Not Quite Perfect . . . but Perfectly Priced.”

The price part of that is an understatement. We found a gorgeous long, woven coat that was listed for $298 in the catalog on sale here for $40--and nothing could be found wrong with it.

The back room has customer returns, samples, seconds and irregulars. A Wind River leather jacket that sells for $398 in the catalog is tagged $250 in the front store; if it makes it to the back room, it goes down to $126. A Been There leather jacket with some nice triple-stitching trim costs $172.50, rather than the $345 catalog price.

A classic-style cotton velveteen shirt--unisex--costs $64 in the catalog, $44.95 in the main store and $18 in the back room. Actually, we found lots of great shirts for $18. A Ponderosa silk shirt costs $18 in the back room, $59.99 in the main store and $93 in the catalog.

An Alexander Valley dress that retails for $88 was selling for $18. The main store also has good deals on hats, handbags, jewelry and outdoor items, such as a Brunton compass that retails for $129 and is on sale for $59.99.

TERRITORY AHEAD CATALOG OUTLET STORE, 400 State St., Santa Barbara. (805) 962-5558.

*

Weekend Supersale: The Encino branch of Dishes A La Carte is having a moving sale. It’s cheaper for the store to sell at huge discounts than to pay for packing and moving the fragile items. LA Pottery, which usually sells here for 50% off retail, is now another 20% off. So is Coors, the heavy restaurant dishware. The sale ends April 24, but for the best pickings, go this weekend.

DISHES A LA CARTE, 17043 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 990-1779.