As I will mention in tomorrow's Retailing column, Planet Beach is opening a new "Contempo Spa" in Cary this weekend, which is kind of like a cross between a tanning salon and a spa. Most of the services are ones that the customer can do themselves, using automated machines in private rooms. And, as part of the grand opening, the new store will be offering 20 percent off all retail products and 20 percent off all memberships.

If you want to stop by tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., or Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., there will also be free appetizers, wine tastings and giveaways (must be present to win). The store is at 1130 Green Level to Durham Rd, Suite 304.

In Chapel Hill, the eco-friendly store called Twig is hosting a big charity event on Saturday (tomorrow) fro 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Participating nonprofits include Piedmont Wildlife Center, The Audubon Society, Emerson Waldorf School, Eno River Association, NC Museum of Life and Science, ACLU, Triangle Land Conservancy, Toxic Free NC and The Abundance Foundation. During the course of the event 20 percent of the proceeds from sales will be donated to those groups. But — here's the part I think is cool — when you make a purchase, you get a say in which charity gets your donation.

Twig focuses entirely on green, fairly traded and organic clothing, gifts, home goods, safe toys and baby gear. It is located in Village Plaza, at 99 S. Elliott Road, next to the Whole Foods.

You all know that usually I wait till Friday for freebies, but Wal-Mart has a new Viva paper towel sample, and I expect it to move pretty quickly. You can find it here. 

Just in case you forgot, today's the big freebie day.

McDonald's is giving away Southern Chicken Biscuits from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and Southern Chicken Sandwiches from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. To get the freebie, you have to buy a medium or large drink, but that's the only catch.

And, Dunkin Donuts is giving away free 16 oz. cups of iced coffee from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

As North Carolina couponers gear up for this week's triple coupons at Harris Teeter, I find myself again feeling the need to write about triples etiquete. First, if you are new to the game, please read my Coupons 101 post about triple coupons here. But second, and more importantly, everyone should please show a little common sense and a little common courtesy to other people.

Triple coupons are extremely stressful for store employees and managers. We all descend with our coupons looking for the same great deals, which makes it hard for them to keep items in stock and shoppers happy. Please have some patience and be polite to store employees.

As I wrote last time we had triples, I have been absolutely horrified over the past year to see people truly begin to abuse the system. I understand that it's really easy to get carried away with the emotional high of getting so much for so little. I've definitely been guilty of that myself. But please remember that triple coupons help a lot of families stock up on necessities and stretch their budgets. That's something increasingly important to many folks nowadays. If one person goes and cleans out the shelves, buying 20 or 30 of one single item, that ruins it for everyone else and could really deprive someone who just needs one or two of that item but could really use it. Please think carefully as you shop and take only what you need. Leave the rest for others. If everyone is considerate, we will all have a wonderful triples event!

I will climb down off my soapbox now...

Well it is a fantastic deals week! Not only is Harris Teeter having triple coupons this weekend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but there are also a ton of really good deals everywhere else. If you are a cola drinker, Pepsi and Coke are on sale everywhere, including a really fantastic deal at Harris Teeter where you get three Pepsi fridge packs FREE when you buy two. That’s a good deal. There are also some good deals at the pharmacies this week, especially with their various rebate programs.

DEAL OF THE WEEK: For this week’s deal, I think I’m going to go with the Sure antiperspirant or deodorant deal at Walgreens. It’s a bit complicated, but follow along… The Suave is $1.99 and there was a $1 coupon on Feb. 24. If you have two of those, that’s like a BOGO (two for $1.98). Then you could send in the BOGO mail-in rebate from Feb. 24 to get the price of the second one back, making both of them FREE.

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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Some of you may have noticed, but all of our Bruegger's locations have been remodeled over the past several weeks. The chain is now ready to celebrate its grand re-opening tomorrow (Thursday), and it will celebrate with a special deal.

All 17 stores in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex and Chapel Hill will offer a breakfast special of a bagel and cream cheese for $1.49 until 10 a.m. Then there will be a $2.99 Herby Turkey lunch special from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In addition, the first 25 guests at each bakery that morning who make a purchase and go through the line will receive a Bruegger’s $25 gift card. That would be a nice way to start off your morning. A portion of sales from the day will go to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Wake County.

Well, there you go! It's official. I just checked the Harris Teeter Web site, and it confirms that Teeter will have triple coupons this week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. As always, a big thank you goes out to Faye Prosser and my good friends at savvydollar.org (which did indeed hit 1,000 users this week... congratulations, Dan!). Click "Read more" for the list of good deals you could pick up during triples... 

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Just a reminder that Haagen-Dazs stores are giving away free scoops of their new Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream today from 4 to 8 p.m.... you know... if you feel like making a little stop on the way home from work. The Web site does recommend calling to make sure your store is participating before you go.

The other day, I was on the hunt for some frozen Chinese dumplings or potstickers to put in some soup. I was sure I could find some in the freezer section at Harris Teeter, since I was certain I'd seen them there before. But of course, I got to the store, and no potstickers. None. Not even the Asian Sensation ones. I tried the Lowes Foods not too far away and they didn't have any either. Eventually I gave up, determined that I wouldn't waste $10 in gas trying to find a $4 bag of dumplings. But it was completely frustrating. It's always when you need that one thing to make your meal complete that you cannot find it anywhere.

So I need some sympathy today, people... share your stories about your frustrating searches for one specific thing. Tell us what you were looking for, where you were looking and (hopefully) where you finally found it. I finally got my dumplings later in the week when I made a run to the Grand Asia Market in Cary.

I do not like snakes. But if you do, you may want to mark your calendar for this Friday, May 16.

In preparation for the opening of the new "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" movie on May 22, the Hibachi Xpress restaurant in Beaver Creek Crossings in Apex will be hosting a "Name that Snake" contest. From 5 to 8 p.m., you can take your shot at naming this 7-foot Amazon boa and meet our own local "Indy," Charles Zidar.

Zidar, pictured here, has worked in archaeology in Greece, Cyprus, Belize, Florida, and Ohio. He has uncovered buried treasure, discovered dinosaurs, been shot in the middle of a jungle and almost died from a mysterious tropical disease. He is the former assistant director for a natural history museum in South Florida and is the current curator of exhibits for N.C. State Parks.

The winner of the snake-naming contest will receive tickets to the movie and dinner at Hibachi Xpress. Zidar/Indy will throw in a bag of "treasure," plus he will have dinner and attend the movie with the winner. If you've got a kid who's into archaeology (or, if you are into archaeology), that could be a really cool opportunity.

Kroger announced today that it will expand the $4 generic drug program that it launched in March to include 90-day supplies of certain generic drugs for $10. Kroger is also Kroger said it is also expanding the number of women's health medications it offers at a discounted price. Those drugs are available for $9 in 30-day supplies or $24 for a 90-day supply. The move, of course, mirrors the expansion of similar programs from other retailers including Wal-Mart. But I'm not complaining. Competition always benefits the consumer.

To view a the expanded list of drugs that are now included in Kroger's program, you can visit www.kroger.com/generic or call 1-877-4RX-LIST (1-877-479-5478).

I have written before about a Web site called savvydollar.org. It's a forum for North Carolina savvy shoppers (mostly folks from the Triangle) where you can share your savvy tips, deals and other good bargains. I think it's a great resource, and with triple coupons coming up this week at Harris Teeter, this is an opportune time to join up.

And, on the shameless promotion front, I write about the site again today because the SavvyDollar moderator, Dan, really really wants to reach 1,000 registered users. He's at 995 as of right now, so I thought I'd see if I could help him out... go ahead and check out the site.

There was an interesting item in this morning's daily roundup of retail news from Women's Wear Daily. It reported that Bloomingdale's has announced that its Bloomingdale's by Mail catalog will be discontinued early next year, and enhancements to the Bloomingdale's Web site will be accelerated.

I have really mixed feelings about this change. I love to shop online for its ease and convenience. I especially love shopping online while I'm sitting at home in my pajamas and drinking a cup of coffee. But part of me still loves browsing through the glossy catalogs from stores that are so conveniently delivered to my home. It's definitely a form of window shopping, and it keeps me up to date with what retailers are offering.

What do you think? Do you still like to look at catalogs, or are they a thing of the past?