What's your best "bought it when you saw it" purchase from Marden's?

I spent $79 on a beautiful 8x10 rug. If you’ve shopped for new rugs that size recently, you know that’s a steal 😮‍💨

My father's favorite store. I have a beautiful big Maple tree in my front yard that he bought for me when I built the house 27 years ago. It looked like a dead stick at the time. I thought, well, may as well stick it in the ground. Today it's our primary shade tree.

I just want to say that I love that the original theme song is still intact and that people actually use the phrase.

My cousin wrote/sings the song and it's nice to still hear his voice every now and then, if not his laugh.

Rest in Peace Danny

$2 pair of glasses that look exactly like Bubbles' from Trailer Park Boys.

My wedding dress. A $39.99 white linen j crew dress that I altered a bit myself 🙃

Edit: also a $500 madewell leather jacket for $99!

$15 for shoes that would’ve been easily $100 elsewhere, lasted a long time and were very comfortable. Polo shirts for $2, my ex bought so much Sephora makeup there I had to pay duty on it

30.00 for a giant enamel dutch oven.

A $700 grill that was marked down on its markdown to $250 because it was missing bolts. I stopped at Aubuchons on the drive home. Love that grill.

• J Crew down-filled puffer winter coat for $39
• American Tourister hard shell suitcase for $25
• Gorgeous silk upholstery fabric for $2.99/yd. Re-upholstered my fancy dining room chairs for $18.
• Quality hiking poles for $15

There are so many more. Best store ever.

Likely my wife’s $700 Patagonia jacket for $100. So many good ones though.

A 55 gallon bag filled with cheap white tablecloths for $5 (If I could carry the bag to the car ). Used them / lent them out - 3 out door weddings, 2 bridal showers and a baby shower. The ones I have left I use to cover my tomatoes when it frosts. Not a bad $5

The first time we went after we moved back, my husband grumbled when I wanted to stop there. He asked what I needed and I scoffed and said "Mardens tells you what you need." And he goes "no way that's stupid I want a really nice tile saw." I scoffed back.

...One guess what we paid $200 for the 1k version of. I swear it was like we walked in and a heavenly ray of light shined down right on the display.

...And one time a $450 Barbour coat for $75.

Madewell jeans and pants 20 a piece

A Hill House nap dress for $29 - $150 on their website

$50 Frye Boots!

Picked up some great camping/boat blankets for under $20 each. They pack up into their own bags, have snaps so you can drape them over your shoulders and it stays on like a cape, carabineer loops on each corner, and came with a small carabineer clip. They're so useful.

eta: the material is also great. One side is like that slick sleeping bag exterior (so is it's bag), and the other side is a fuzzy polyester that's almost faux fur like. They're really great.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gorden pop-up book for $5. In the late 80s early 90s I got a high fi stereo $700 vcr for $250. Sega Genesis for $100. Those are my favorite buys.

I bought an awesome white Italian couch and chair, I think it was $500 but the retail was $1500. We told someone about it in Bangor and apparently they weren't supposed to be allowed to sell that brand of couch in portland....no idea what that was about. Love that couch though, I can lie flat without touching either end.

I just bought a mattress this week that was so cheap because the labels were printed upside down

A tree mounted hammock swing for $25-30… I love it, my kids love it.

Several dinner settings of Misaka for $4.99. They retail for over $100 and I've had them for almost 30 years.

A vintage red and gold button for 25 cents. I put it on the floor Christmas morning with some string attached. The magic and wonder when my kids found “Santa’s button” was priceless. I think it even roped my older kid back into the magic for an extra year.

They had an aisle of Sitka hunting clothes. If you don't, they are ridiculously overpriced camo gear but it is really nice stuff. Called my dad and brothers and picked up random pieces they wanted at Christmas gifts. Probably $700 worth of stuff for $200

My MIL makes quilts with the big block center pieces. I always grab any that I think she would like. They're pretty inexpensive and they have such a variety!

I also got an 8x10 rug for under $100. I can't remember the exact price but I remember thinking "Quick! Before someone sees it!" 😆

My daughter got her wedding dress there.

A decent portion of my shoe collection is from Mardens, including a pair of Frye boots and Stuart Weitzman heels. Those retail for $300+ and they were probably less than $40 each.

Okay. I surrender. I hate to shop and I've been in Maine for 25 years and have never been to a Mardens. This thread is making me think it's time to give it a go.

A wool scarf in my family’s tartan; they usually go for $50 and up but I paid $5.

Eddie Bauer packable down coat for $20.

A mostly complete OXO brand cooking utensil set. I found it in an open unbranded box with loose Saran wrap on it. As far as I could tell it was missing one piece but I bought the set over 10 years ago and it’s still going strong.

Finally asking the real questions!

An amazing coffee table that should have been around 1200.00 for 200.00 . Also a dining room set where the table extends out with 6 chairs , 2 captains for 900. I checked other furniture stores and they were at 1800 to 2500 and up. So many good deals, you just gotta stop and look.

Deuter kid comfort 2 backpack

Koflatch double plastic mountaineering boots

Both roughly half retail price (the boots might have been even cheaper)

smith & Wesson M&P shield for $200

$40 longboard. It was my main transportation for 5yrs living in boston. Thing saved me sooo much time. I have a car now but still ride for fun.

I moved away from Maine to Maryland in late 2021. All my winter clothes are from Marden. This CK jacket which retailed for $400 was $80. The mattress I sleep on is from Marden. Other places for the same type of mattress was at least $1200. Got it for $500 in Marden. I love marden. I miss marden.

gorgeous copper sink. Solid copper - was going to buy online and spend more. Just lucky.

2 pound bag of almonds for 8 bucks.

A sweet Technics turntable and weirdly, there were 10 other great brands / styles to choose from that day.

It was $30

A roll of biohazard crime scene tape

In the late 1980s, I bought 3 brand-new-in-box Anton Bauer ENG camera batteries for $20 each. Resold them the next morning, all 3 for the retail price of one. Turned $60 into $495 overnight!

Got a Fleshlight for 15 dollars.

My full size pillow top Boston mattress and box spring for $400.

$60.00 for a Patricia Nash lined, leather tote with a retail price of $389.99.

Cool car play mat rug $10

My buddy growing up had a dad that shopped there daily. We got triathelon bikes, Olympic air riffles that shot 1000 fps, we got clothes only the rich kids could get and you name it in between . You have to buy it when you see it!

Weights for my home gym.

An unopened super nintendo game for 5$ still have it unopened on my game shelf! This was in 2019 when I found it.

I have a few, I go there weekly at least. Electric ice cream maker for $12, Entire series of Schitt’s Creek for $10, Bearpaw winter boots for $40. (Edits: format)

$29 for a pair of manitobah mukluks, they retailed for $250 . Warmest winter boots

a $100 long sleeve fishing shirt

True fact: every shirt is a fishing shirt.

I bought a trim gauge tool and a nail pulling tool. Some of my most useful tools and they were cheap.

120 wolverine jacket for 30

Oh, lots of fun to shop there.

Got some wicked good bargains.

Bought some food items that turned out to be inedible. Bought some good stuff cheap that turned out to be unusable, unnecessary or otherwise not worth the price.

Caveat emptor.

Now, Remy’s….

Electric leaf blower for $8.

The 49" Samsung Odyssey monitor ($899 when it was still selling for $1,400) I'm using right now. Hell, the Noctua CPU cooler and mechanical Logitech keyboard I'm also currently using... And the microphone. Oh crap, I may have a problem.

A set of stainless steel Cuisinart pots and pans. Have had them for over 5 years and still use them daily. Funny enough, right before I bought them, I was looking at the same set online for nearly double the price... glad I waited

Calico Critters living room, bathroom, and airship playsets.

New books for half off back in 2021.

I got the blinds for my bathroom and living room. 16.99 each

A cat tree. Was exactly what I had been looking for for months.

This week I'm thinking the two AC's I picked up at Marden's last summer were my best purchases.

Giant inflatable derby duck.

1900 for a 4400 dollar carbon road bike with di2.

An inflatable cow for $8.

Lego Millennium Falcon. It was just under 100 dollars, and I had been having a rough month, it made me so happy to find. Yes, it was for me, a 38 (36 at the time) year old woman. It was missing one piece, but it was a piece that isn't super obvious.

Brand new, still in crate pellet stove. Retailed for around $4K, paid $500. Heated with it for a decade, saving literally thousands a year in heating oil. That $500 stove probably saved me $15 or 20k over 10 years.

$10 rice cooker. It’s not big or fancy but I use it allll the fucking time

I got a Talbots blazer for $1. It still had the original price tag of $199.

$30 on the best summer shoes ever!!

Real Pergo laminate flooring for like 0.99/sqft. They had just enough boxes for my basement- I had two planks left! Whew!

A self propelled lawn mower for about $100 15 years ago....still going!

The answer is always flooring

High end alpaca yarn

Metallica-and Justice for all on vinyl back in ‘89.

I haven't lived in Maine for years, but now the jingle is stuck in my head all over again

But to answer your question, years ago I bought steel toe boots for about $50. They lasted me years!

5 led light panels for under $20 each.

2 chandeliers that put my place perfectly. And a half price new dishwasher that is exactly what I wanted. Adding, 2 pellet g*ns, one I sold to a friend for double what I paid. I could go on.

Gallon sized RTIC vacuum bottle for $10. It’s kept many a doggo hydrated

I bought a nice Michael Kors overcoat a few years ago for like $70. And, of course, I can't forget the Crockpot I bought in 2008 for $20 that's still going strong.

Peruvian Comnection. Alpaca wool skirt. Valued, at the time, at $450. Mardens; $79.

When my daughter was little they got a shipment of super posh baby clothes. I got her a sweet dress with a $150 price tag still on it for $10! Also way back then they’d gotten a liquidation from a music store and I got a TON of CDs from the Real World label for something like $4 each. That was one of my favorite finds.

A microfiber dog towel… literally the BEST thing and I haven’t been able to find anything that compares

A pair of Sennheiser wireless earbuds for like $40. Think they were originally $120. Also a set or organic cotton sheets for like under $10

I bought around 15 metal wood clamps, around 5.00 each. Nice quality, a steal.

A cuttin’ disc.

An aluminum tank compressor. Half the weight of my old one. Going strong after 15 years. 

I F’d up I saw a garage storage wall organizer it was $99 and I passed it up. Reality set in and I told myself I didn’t NEED IT…..

A >year later and I’m cleaning up the garage looking at garage organizers for $250++ kicking myself. Just mind blasting the jingle bc I know I screwed up

I bought full size mat boards for matting and framing my paintings and they were $3 each full sheet.

$5 set of four cutting boards. Best cutting boards I own. Seem indestructible but I'm now milking them along bc I know I'll never find another set.

$80 for a Phoenix Gold 30 channel car EQ. Also, a roll of Dynaliner they thought was just foam for $10.

A PS4 for $229 about a year or so after it came out.

Many other good scores, too. Most recently, a 65” Samsung OLED for $1149.

Frye boots.

I got two cupcake tins for $8 and a cuisinart food processor for $30!

I bought a couple of 8 lb bags of beef jerky for 25 bucks a piece. It was good stuff too.

Helly Hanson jacket

$400 Taylormade Driver for $180- brand new in plastic $300 Beats by Dre studio headphones for $150 - Brand new in plastic

It was a green/blue plaid, carpet-like fabric chucks - $12. I wore them OUT. Wanted to get the same pair a couple years later, they were like $150

Camping bedroll that comes in a bag that has a little fitting that goes into the fill valve on the bedroll, acting as a pump that works like popping a lunch bag.

Logitech keyboard case for my iPad for $20, at Best Buy right now it’s $199. I guess the iPad itself for that matter, got it two years for several hundred off the original price. Bonus, at the old Mardens location in Waterville I got the Beastie Boys album To The 5 Boroughs for like $3 when I was 14, opened up a whole new world in my musical tastes. RIP MCA!!

I bought a large $290 Staub (France) enameled cast iron pan for $99. We use it almost every day.

A new 14" ryobi chainsaw for $60. A new ryobi pressure washer for the same price. 24 cans of bronze wheel spray paint at $2/ea Dealer boots for $25

Plastic sleds for like a dollar during a snow day at maine maritime

A fuck load of spey line

Set of anodized pots and pans missing the box, it was actually two sets but they were all the same color so the cashier rang it all up as one. Still using them daily 8 years later.

Hurtta jackets for the pups at 90% off retail

Organic cotton 3000 thread count sheets that are the softest

And so many more little things. Was just there today and saw some cool finds Men’s clothing I totally would have worn if they were my size. I never find the brands I like in women’s stuff

I got a really large metal tea tin with a double lid, that was remaindered from a tea store that closed. I think it was $8, super cool and useful. There were five of them, and I only bought one because I was trying to buy fewer things, but still kind of devastated I was so dumb to pass on the rest of them, they're really great for food storage. 

I literally have said the sentence "I should have bought it when I saw it at Marden's" about those tins... 

I bought a Betabrand Disco Jacket while attending UMaine. That thing has been my go-to New Year's coat ever since.

Andrea the gaint tshirt last week for 5 dollars

There was a brand new Moog Sub 37 synthesizer for $900. I should have…

Delonghi espresso/cappuccino machine for $399 when it listed for $800 online.

Ooooh baby, I'll never forget. I got myself an authentic David Pastrnak Bruins jersey for $80.

I just happened to be off work that day and had nothing to do while my wife was working. So I just drove around and shopped. Walked into Marden's, right there was a small display with a couple Marchand and Chara (at this point he'd retired) jerseys. But in between were 2 Pasta pieces. I quickly googled hockey jersey sizes and how they work. One of the Patsa jerseys was technically just my size. Buuuut, at this point I was supposed to be saving up for our wedding. So I left the store and called my then fiancée about the find. She asked, "Well, how much?" $80. "Oh woah. Well, how much is one online?" $175. "AND YOU DIDN'T BUY THE ONE YOU FOUND?" Well, I figure eighty bucks could get us wedding stuff. "I know you're not far. Turn your ass around and get that thing. You've wanted one for so long."

100 18 in gas chainsaw this spring

Go figure. My wife bought me a chainmail coif(like a hood made out of chain links for armor). I teach shop at a middle school and I display it and use it as an ice breaker for incoming classes. Also, it doesn't hurt that I run the Dungeons and Dragons Club.

She bought it, when she saw it, at Marden's

I miss Marden's so much.... I live in Buffalo now and we have Ollie's, which is similar, but it just doesn't hit the same. I remember in highschool it seemed Marden's would frequently buy out CD stores, and I'd get so many, and discover new bands because they were so cheap I could just buy them if the cover art looked cool lol

Rugs. Always help to hide the blood and police chalk lines.

A fantastic couch. Down cushions and pillow backs, nice fabric, super comfy. We bought it in 2001 for $400 (a steal!!) and are planning on re-upholstering it as our previous beloved yet evil cat used it as a scratching post.

I have had this amazing covered skillet for at least fifteen years. I was having a hard time finding one exactly to my specifications and happened across one at Marden's. After the $10 rebate it ended up costing only $5.

PSA: Marden's is the best place to buy a comfortable and affordable mattress from. The mattress I bought there was approximately a thousand dollars less than similar ones I found at furniture stores.

Marden's is my fave (and I have favorite marden's locations)

In the last year or so:

Miele vacuum cleaner, Theragun Mini, Moccamaster coffeemaker, InstantPot Vortex air fryer, kitchenaid mixer, cricut machine and supplies, levoit air purifier, Vitamix, birkenstocks, Cafe OTR microwave (my folks had just bought a new range and the old MW looked ugly, and Marden's shows up with the exact matching one for half off retail!).. so much high quality quilting cotton... Madewell/Loft/JCrew apparel. Love when an Ulta/Sephora drops in on a Mardens, too. So many nice phone cases for cheap! Great place for puzzles (Reny's is too)

My arctic ice muck boots are the best I've ever had and I got them for $50.

The key to marden's is to just swing through often, maybe have an idea of things you might need, obviously helps if you can decipher brands - I have been surprised that I'll see cheap junk in the Glass Case of Good Stuff and then a moccamaster in a nondescript cardboard box on the shelf. Currently making our rounds looking for stuff for my kid''s dorm as she goes away to school in the fall, and she is all in on finding a great Marden's deal for that stuff. We go once a week usually and just make our rounds - I generally have a mental list of things I might need (and friends let me know what they might be in the market for) and know to strike when you see a deal.

Oh! my kids are teens now, but their nursery furniture all came from a Hurricane Katrina impacted Buy Buy Baby in Lousiana, so these kids have LITERALLY been raised on Marden's.

I also remember the post 9/11 shipments of couture (and gap, I bought a bunch of work clothes from that) that was written about in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/03/11/fancy-pants-in-portland

On separate occasions i impulsively bought Audio monitors and a condenser mic. Both over 1/2 off the retail price.

4ft LED shop lights to replace the old ones in my basement, for $5 each. They have worked great for a handful of years so far. I just wish I had bought every single one when I was there instead of just 4.

So many, but recently a pair of Mizuno running sneaks that were $36! Kamaro Joe parts... A super comfy mattress...

A pair of chairs that convert from dining room chairs to mini-stepladders. Paid 45 bucks each IIRC, would be worth it at triple the price.

Runner up was a 36 inch flat screen CRT widescreen Philips TV many moons ago. Stupidly heavy, was (for the time) considered high definition, and lasted us for years until we needed to upgrade to get out Xbox to work with something. I think we paid $200 or so for it.

I love Marden’s and it always provides. When I moved into my house and needed Xmas tree decorations, lo and behold they had 2 rows of German made decorations that year. We are currently building a house, found high end flooring for 1/2 the price we were looking to pay. I could go on and on…Mardens is amazing.

I found some adidas superstar shoes there for $35. But that was over a decade ago. I haven’t found anything in years

My mom recently got a play tent for my impending baby for $30. Originally something like $180. It's not my deal but it was so impressive I was telling everyone about it. These things were selling for like $80 refurbished too. And she got it for $30!

You guys are feeding my Marden’s habit and I need to go back now

A long tailored wool Guess coat (retail $400) for $20.

2012- Queen Serta Mattress for $150.

A pallet of computer cases for $25-50 that normally cost me 80-250.

A really nice two tiered outdoor umbrella we paid like $30 for 4 or 5 years ago. That thing is solid and still going strong over our picnic table.

Personal Edifiers. Best speakers for PC I have ever heard and got them 70% off. Box was destroyed but speakers untouched. $65

Please tell me someone has bought IT AT Mardens when they saw it... 🤷‍♂️🤣

The only thing I remember my stepfather getting from Mardens was a can of dented chili he was so happy about. It gave him food poisoning