Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Like many of you, I'm taking today off!

But, I did want to provide a list of mall hours for the weekend. Happy deal-hunting!

Cameron Village: hours vary by merchant.

Carolina Premium Outlets: Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Cary Towne Center: Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

Crabtree Valley Mall: Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

North Hills: hours vary by merchant.

Nortgate mall: Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

The Streeets at Southpoint: Friday 10 a.m. 7 p.m,; Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m; and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Triangle Town Center: Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

OK, it's not Friday yet.

But I'm taking tomorrow off. So let's do freebies a day early this week...

*Wal-Mart has a Nivea for Men shave gel freebie here.

*And Old Spice body wash here.

*And a Pond's Towelette sample here. 

*There's an Aquaphor sample here.

*You can get a free Olympic pin when you buy two Stayfree or Carefree items and mail in the form found here. This could be pretty easy with the BOGO Stayfree coupon from last week. 

For the Fourth of July weekend, Rocky Top restaurants are offering a buy one get one entree deal when you bring in the coupon from their Web site. Rocky Top is a Raleigh-based company that owns Michael Dean's, Hi5, Red Room, Bogart's and The Twisted Fork.

The offer is good tomorrow, July 4 through Sunday, July 6, and you must have the coupon to get the deal. However, if you plan to use this coupon, Rocky Top owner Dean Ogan highly recommends making a reservation. So far, he said, more than 700 people have printed out the online coupon, and it will run in tomorrow's News & Observer as well.

Walgreens is offering 15-cent prints from its photo center when you use the coupon code STARS15. The deal runs through July 12... 

When I saw the extremely generous $2 and $3 Pert Plus coupons on Sunday, I thought there might be some really good deals out there. Sure enough, this morning I heard from reader Jeannine, who reported this deal at Kroger:

"I just went to Kroger at Creedmoor and Lynn and purchased the Pert Plus Botanicals shampoo.  It was $3.35 and I had a $3 off coupon from this past Sunday's paper (6/29/08).  On the outside of the bottle there was a mail-in rebate offer for the price of the bottle (up to $3.99).  I just made a profit of $3 and got a free bottle of shampoo!!"

Not bad at all... Of course, there's no guarantee that your Kroger will have the same deal. But if you're in a Kroger store this weekend, it would definitely be worth checking.

Boy, I hope this trend gets bigger...

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced this week that its stores will begin buying 25 percent of at least one of its produce items for each of its 730-plus restaurants from small and mid-sized local farms. That may not seem like much... 25 percent of one item. But it's a start. And consider that Chipotle had revenues of $1.09 billion last year.

I just got an e-mail announcing Bed Bath & Beyond's summer clearance sale on outdoor furniture. At least according to the e-mail, select furniture items are 20 to 50 percent off.

And, while we're on the topic of clearance sales, upscale mattress retailer Dormia announced it will begin a liquidation sale on Thursday, following its bankruptcy filing last month. There are Dormia stores in Raleigh's Crabtree Valley Mall and Cary Towne Center.

For those of you who have school-age kids, you may want to plan to hit Staples this coming week. Word has it that the office supply store will be having its penny sale beginning Sunday, where things like file folders and pencils are just a penny. I also hear that half-inch and one-inch poly binders are going to be a quarter each.  Those are some ridiculous prices, so it's best to go early in the week. When you see the sales flier on Sunday be sure to note the limits on each item. They are always strictly enforced due to high demand. Yes, you could go back more than once during the week, but let's all try to share...

OK, I know I've blogged an awful lot about this giant crab on top of Crabtree Valley Mall. But I am just fascinated by this marketing tactic. On one hand, well... folks definitely know McCormick & Schmick's is about to open. But on the other hand, some might be put off by the giant crab. What do you all think? Cool or tacky? Here are some photos of the "Jake installation" yesterday...

Well, happy early Fourth of July, everyone… This week, hot dogs, chips and soda are not surprisingly on sale. And there are some other good deals out there, too. Remember, if something’s nonperishable and a really good deal, this would be a great time to stock up!

Deal of the week: There were definitely some contenders this week. Daisy sour cream is free at Lowes if you have the right coupon. You can get two boxes of L’Oreal Natural Match hair color at Walgreens for $3 this week. And Harris Teeter is running the same deal on California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas that was the deal of the week last week.

But this week, given the amount of food we’re all going to eat this weekend, I think I’m going to go with the Maalox deal at Food Lion. The 12 ounce bottles and the 65-count chewables are on sale for $2.99, and there was a $2 coupon for both on June 1. At 99 cents, that’s a great deal.

Click “Read more” to see the list! And remember, if the store has a loyalty card, you’ll need it to get the sale price.

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From July 3 through July 6, KB Toys stores will be giving shoppers a $10 "Bonus Bucks" card when they spend $30 or more in one transaction. That's like an instant 33 percent rebate! Limit one per household per day. Download the PDF flier below to see some of the sales.

Alas... the fun furniture, lighting and gift shop called RedPin Gallery in Raleigh's Seaboard Station is going to close. Owner David Walser put out the word this morning. A "progressive" clearance sale, where the discounts get steeper as time goes on, is already under way.

The store's final day will be Aug. 2.

Stores Magazine, which is part of the National Retail Federation, has published its annual list of the top 100 retailers today. As it has since 1991, Wal-Mart tops the list (which is ranked by annual revenue). The top five retailers were Wal-Mart, Kroger, Home Depot, CVS and Costco. If you want to view the whole list, you can do so by downloading the PDF below...

If you happen to be going by Crabtree Valley Mall today, I hear Jake the Crab is going to be installed on the mall's roof this morning. As I've mentioned before, Jake will be hanging out on the roof of the mall for a few days to announce the opening of the new McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurant, which will open July 10.

If you happen to snap a photo, send it my way...

According to the Palm Beach Post, prices for fireworks are skyrocketing this year. A warehouse explosion in China limited supply and slowed down shipments  — not to the point where cities are having trouble getting fireworks, but definitely enough to enact the laws of supply and demand. So, if you are among those planning to buy some firecrackers and  other goodies for your Fourth of July celebration, be prepared to pay a little more.

And please, of course, be careful...