Show What You Grow

Austin Home + Garden Show returns with HGTV sisters and local botanical garden

The Austin Home + Garden Show welcomes exhibitors, speakers, and attendees throughout the weekend of January 6.

Photo courtesy of Austin Home & Garden Show

Forget this week’s Target run — the Austin Home + Garden Show has everything an Austinite needs, wants, and didn’t know they crave in tools and knickknacks around the house. The Austin Convention Center will fill up with tools, fashion, organization, and appliances this January 6-8.

Like any expo, this offers demo and browsing opportunities, plus service and product specials that can save attendees hundreds of dollars. In addition to the shopping, some speakers will get onstage to share inspiration with DIY-ers. New this year, attendees can learn from a well-known pair of designers and flea market-loving sisters dubbed the Junk Gypsies and Austin’s own Zilker Botanical Garden.

Amie and Jolie Sikes run Junk Gypsy out in Round Top, a feminine, bohemian, and decidedly country retail store that initially sold the duo’s market finds, and served as a launchpad for the HGTV series that solidified their nickname. The rogue designers take the aesthetic of the junktiques-obsessed city and turn trash into many Austin women’s treasures, while making custom pieces for celebrities with rockabilly aesthetics: Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Billie Joe Armstrong, and more. They’ll hit the stage on January 7 at 2 pm, for an unspecified chat between seminars about garden planning and creating a more energy-efficient home.

Zilker Botanical Garden, a partner of the Home + Garden show, is signing on for its first activation and keeping things straightforward: garden design and maintenance. The all-levels talk promises useful tips that anyone can try, a demonstration on growing broccoli microgreens in one week, plus a Q&A portion for more specifics on different types of plants, which need different care. Texas Bamboo Society and Austin Herb Society will join to display and sell goods. The Botanical Garden offers frequent workshops at its home location, but this event appears to be broader than its usual programming.

The show also welcomes social media influencer Rhonda Kaiser, Dennis Celsor of Built Green Custom Homes, and Jewell Parker of ShelfGenie as speakers. In addition to the convenience of all shopping in one place, the show provides a free shuttle to the Barton Creek Mall, enabling free parking.

The Austin Home + Garden Show invites visitors January 6 from 12-8 pm; January 7 from 10 am to 8 pm; and January 8 from 11 am to 6 pm. Tickets ($10 adults, free for children) are available austinhomeandgardenshow.com at a reduced rate ($8) until opening day on January 6. The Zilker Botanical Garden (2220 Barton Springs Road) offers visitors free tickets to the show.

shopping education fashion home-design

Closure News

Furniture chain American Freight closing Austin and all other stores

American Freight

There's a big sale going on at American Freight.

There's a huge sale on furniture going down right now, but for a sad reason: American Freight, a chain of furniture stores operating in dozens of states, is permanently shuttering all 328 locations, due to “sustained inflation and macroeconomic challenges,” according to its parent company.

That includes one store in Austin, at 13435 N. Highway 183, Ste. 101.

The closing comes after its parent company, Franchise Group, Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection, according to documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Store closing sales began on November 5, both online and at its 328 locations. Hilco Consumer-Retail is managing these sales for American Freight as the business winds down its operations nationwide. Significant discounts are being offered on the brand's full assortment of inventory.

Shoppers can save up to 30 percent off the lowest ticketed prices storewide. Available items include living room sets, bedroom furniture, dining tables, and a selection of scratch & dent and new in-box appliances, such as refrigerators, washers and dryers.

New inventory is arriving and expected to move quickly, so customers should take advantage of this prime opportunity to enjoy exceptional deals before it's too late.

"Our goal is to deliver outstanding value to customers during this full chain closing sale," said Ian Fredericks, CEO of Hilco Consumer-Retail. "Everything is on sale and must be sold, and we recommend shopping early for the best selection."

During the store closing sales, select American Freight financing and delivery services will remain available to customers, presenting a unique opportunity to shop exceptional discounts with the convenience of flexible payment and home delivery.

The chain has 39 stores in Texas.

Sale Details
They're offering up to 30 percent off the lowest ticketed prices on furniture, scratch & dent, and new in-box appliances. Discounts are valid in stores and online. All sales are final, of course. Shop now for the best selection while supplies last.

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