Final Cut is probably one of the best kept secrets I've uncovered. No, my mother uncovered it, and then luck happened. Final Cut is an outlet for stores such as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Free People, and other popular brands. They sell items that are not 100% able to be sold in their home stores. Whether they are damaged, torn, written on, missing a button, or snagged, you can always find a treasure.
My mother loves Anthropologie, and is an amazing "personal" interior designer. Meaning, she's great at decorating our own house, but hasn't made it a profession. After arriving back home from Fort Benning, Georgia, after my OCS graduation, she was so disappointed for having forgotten to go to the Anthropologie Outlet (that's what we called it). After a google search, I told her, "Mom, first of all, it's called Final Cut, and second of all, it's nowhere near Atlanta!" It was actually in Augusta, GA, the city I was about to move to that following week.
I packed my 2007 Volvo XC90 to the brim with all my clothes, my sister's desk, the Keurig my mother had gotten me for my birthday (that she didn't wrap because she was fed up with me for God knows what reason), my 12 bottles of wine from Trader Joe (that you get 50 cents off a bottle for buying bulk), and off I went. I drove from Ohio to Augusta, GA, in two days. On the second day, I picked up the keys to my new apartment and moved everything in myself before sprinting off to run errands.
The first thing I did was look for a mattress. The most important piece of furniture, in my mind, is the bed. The second store I went to was Sears. Best mattress deals I've ever seen! You can always get a good deal on mattresses if you're patient, and willing to look. I bought a Queen that was originally about $2,000 for about $360. Haha, so get this, it was a display piece from Sears that had been on the floor for two years. It was a little greyish, due to people laying on it so much. On the bright side, no one had had sex on it, no one had died on it, and there weren't bed bugs. Just a little dirt. Put a mattress cover over it, and ALL GOOD! I'm not picky. Also, since it was a sample bed...half of the mattress was firm, and the other half was semi-firm. BONUS! Am I right? It's like a two-in-one bed! If I felt like I wanted a firmer mattress that night, I could just roll over! I had agreed to almost $500 for the mattress, but when it rung up on the cash register, there had been an additional discount, so, to our surprise it was such a steal! I wanted it THAT NIGHT, so the Sears workers helped me load it on top of my SUV. They gave me rope, and I tied that bad boy down real well, with the help of all the men in the parking lot who wanted to give me a hand, haha.
Last stop of the day, Final Cut. I had been dreaming of this moment for...well, a week, ever since my mom told me about this "anthropologie outlet". All I knew was what I had seen on their instagram page. They had a TON of couches, chairs, rugs, clothes, cloths, etc. It was an interior designer's, fashion lover's Disney Land. I'm not going to lie, I went there at least once a week, if not a few times a week, to stop in and check out their new stock. I did bring co-workers with me to help me carry stuff. Once, my neighbor came with me, and he dug through all the rugs to help me get the ones I wanted. His choice, not mine. I was grateful.
Fabric
My first purchase at Final Cut was cloth for my bed. I had dug through the boxes of comforters, sheets, pillow cases, tapestries, curtains, and towels for hours. It's almost impossible to find sets, so you have to be creative. I bought a pink jersey material duvet cover, the grey patterned quilt, a tapestry, and a couple curtains for about $50 total.
The original Ikea Malm bed frame with connectors (~$170), had been recalled from stores so it was not on sale ANYWHERE. I wanted a similar style to the Malm. One Saturday morning, I found a post on Facebook Marketplace of a Queen Ikea Malm a few miles down the road for $40. They were selling it, or throwing it out that day, they just wanted it gone. One person's trash is really another person's treasure.
That week, it was my birthday. I had to move down to Georgia before my birthday because I
didn't want to spend ALL my leave days. I celebrated my birthday with friends and family before I left in Yellow Springs, OH. So, on my birthday I went furniture shopping all day. I had stopped into a Cold Stone Creamery to get an ice cream cake. I asked the lady how much their smallest cake was, $30! Head down, heart broken, I walked out without a birthday cake. That night, I walked to the seafood restaurant, Rae's Coastal Cafe, in my neighborhood. Another hidden gem I HIGHLY recommend checking out if you're ever in Augusta. I asked for a table for one, all dressed up, makeup done, sitting across from an empty chair. I had wine at home, so to save money, I ordered a beer. I ordered their scallops, smothered with butter, with a side of rice. The scallops fall apart easily, you soak it in the searing hot butter, and let it melt in your mouth. SO good. I recommend their seafood soup and the chicken puff pastry too. After I finished, I asked if they did anything for birthdays, like a free dessert. Remember, I'm sitting alone. The waitor asked to see my ID. Having NOT asked for my ID when I ordered a beer, sitting alone, asking for a birthday treat, he asks to see my ID. How pathetic does he think I am? ...He got me a piece of chocolate cake.
Furniture
The following day...
I bought a couch! At Final Cut, all sales are final, they do not put anything on hold, and they do not deliver.
If you want a couch, it is first come, first served. You must have a method to carry the items out of the store at the time of purchase. They have limited staff and limited space. You can however, ask to put a "hold" sign on a piece of furniture while you are still in the store looking around. I, alone, no friends, in a new town, my birthday week, with an empty apartment asked for help for my special case. The store doesn't have movers, but a staff worker offered to deliver the couch to my apartment at the end of his shift, for a fee of course. I waited with the couch for a couple hours until the store closed, and the lovely gentleman got off his shift.
$1,299 --> $390
The guy and his friend, loaded the couch into his truck bed. They followed me about 15 minutes to my apartment, and carried the couch into my living room for me. It BARELY fit through the door, because I had a narrow hallway into the living room, but they worked a MIRACLE and got it into my apartment. I don't know what I would have done with a non-returnable couch if it didn't fit into my apartment. This couch is a later version of the Urban Outfitter's Graham Microfiber Sofa, $1,299.00 with $99 shipping fee. I bought this couch at Final Cut for $390 with a $80 shipping cost. The only thing wrong with the couch was a small tear on the BOTTOM of the sofa. This couch had arrived the same morning I got there, and it would NOT have been there long.
Next,
Occasionally, Final Cut has 50% off their already discounted rugs, and other stuff. Follow Final Cut on Instagram and Facebook to find out about their sales; Final Cut Georgia, and Final Cut New Jersey.
My mom was so excited when she bought her HUGE Anthrolopogie 8'x10' area rug on sale for $1,000. She was so patient and proud that she got such a good deal on her rug. I wanted a rug just like it. So, I bought three Anthropologie area rugs for about $250 each. Prices and size varied.
Area Rugs | ~$2,000 --> ~$250
I even got the same rug as my mom, the Gloria's Garden rug. I had a tiny one-bedroom apartment, so I layed out the smallest rug, and rolled up the other two and tucked them in a corner for a rainy day. This was when I had my neighbor/co-worker come with me to help me dig through these area rugs. SWEAT, poured down his face as he lifted and tossed these rugs around the room. He bought one too.
$560 --> $240
This Faceted Mirror Coffee Table, is $560, from Anthropologie. The smaller version of the table can be found in TV Shows like Gypsy on Netflix. Actress, Naomi Watts, plays Jean Holloway on Gypsy. In her secret apartment, away from her husband, she has two of these small coffee tables. Final Cut has many coffee tables, and this table seems to be popular due to the fragility of the surface. Many of the tables are cracked, some worse than others. This was one of the more expensive of my purchases. I waited weeks for it to go more on sale, but it never did. So I bought it for about $240, it was in good shape.
$300 --> $80
This Ibex Side Table, is also from Anthropologie, $300. They have many of them in silver and gold. Some of them have the weight missing from the bottom, or the antlers broken on top. I bought mine for $80, since the weight was missing from the bottom. It's a safety concern because it can easily fall over if a child grabs it. Luckily, for a single young adult, no one touches it.
$1,100 --> $350
This is the Velvet Gwinnette Chair, from Anthropologie, $1,100. It came in 9 fabrics, 2 leathers, and started at $998.00. When I bought these, it was my last week in Augusta, GA before I was going to be putting my furniture in storage for a year. I had been there for four months. I wanted to collect as much furniture from Final Cut as I could before I moved away forever. I planned to collect this furniture now in order to decorate my future house, one day. These chairs were on sale for about $300-$400 each. There was NOTHING wrong with them, and there were two! This was another of the big purchases I had to think long and hard about. Although it was a huge discount, how can someone my age pay $300-$400 for a fucking chair? I made a big purchase, and bought two to invest in great decór for my house one day. I have great plans for these chairs, as long as they don't get ruined in storage.
$300 --> $40
This, is an Industrial Storage Dresser, from Urban Outfitters, $300. Now, unavailable on their website. I saw this in the new shipment at Final Cut, marked for $40 and did not hesitate. Who doesn't love storage? My apartment was empty, and nothing says home like cute wood and storage units. I really didn't have much stuff though, so the only thing I kept in it was a dog collar and leash I had boughten for a stray dog, before I found her owner. In August 2017, they started getting more of these in store.
$398 --> $140
This is the Gilded Hare Lamp Ensemble, from Anthropologie, $398.00. I bought it for about $140. This is one of my favorite purchases. Okay, they are ALL my favorite purchases.
As I walked into Final Cut one day after classes, I saw a family taking away a TON of stuff in a Uhaul as I drooled over the things I saw them loading up. I wanted to go into their Uhaul and take it all for myself. Had I been there earlier, closer to when they got new shipment in, I could have had some of the great new stuff that had been taken throughout the day. I'm not kidding when I say, first come first serve. It goes FAST! The Hare Lamp was in the pile of furniture they had boughten, and I fell in love with it then. For weeks, I thought about it. My mom had flown into Augusta from Paris, to drive back home to Ohio with me. As we were leaving town, we stopped at Final Cut, since she had been dreaming about it. They had it, they had the lamp. It was missing a lamp shade, so I picked a different one up. And it had a small chip on its right ear, which can easily be fixed, or ignored. It's currently sitting in my sister's room at home while I am in South Korea. I asked my sister to take a better picture of it, but you know how sisters can be. Like, "why the fuck does my sister want me to take a portait of her fucking $400 bunny lamp, what a psycho!" I would say she'll understand when she's older, but I think that would be a lie...
In this picture, you can also see the brown leather boots from Anthropologie, $60. And wallpaper, that my mother had bought to do a DIY project with old dressers.
| A few pictures of other items in the store, that I did NOT purchase |
| And the store itself |
Clothing
How many boxes of clothing were there? I'd say, over one hundred boxes. There is no organization, and no system to the madness. Just tables (for sale) with boxes of clothes, clothes, and clothes, on top of them. Anthropolgie, Free People, New York Boutiques, and ALL THE CLOTHES. So many brand names, I don't even know how many. I tried staying away from the clothing section, because I just did not want to be there for HOURS. Occasionally, I would walk through the aisles, to see if there was anything I loved in plain sight. When my friends from Ohio came to visit for my BOLC graduation, we spent two full days in the clothing section.
My friend Alyssa, who arrived a day late, was at first disappointed when she found out that we had gone without her on the first day. She too, was excited to spend time in Final Cut on her visit. She's a thrift shop PRO. She was disappointed, thinking that we wouldn't want to spend much time there on the second day. She quickly realized, that you could spend DAYS there and still have new stuff to look at.
My Free People dress is my favorite article of clothing I have gotten there. Originally about a $200 dress, I bought it for $20! It has an open back, it's super soft, easy to wear, and...it has POCKETS! I'm obsessed with it! I also love my cute tan jacket. It has a diagonal zip, a paisley pattern, and a hint of leather. It sits well on your lower back, so it looks great with dresses. I bought a matching maroon one for my friend, however a part of the leather on the shoulder tore off on hers.
My friends found those amazing brown leather booties that I bought. They found these soft, bright colored Anthropologie pajama pants that my friend Amy gifted me for my graduation. I've gotten some designer jeans for $20-$30 each. And you can find scarfs, beanies, shoes, bathingsuits, you name it, they have it.
Other
Final Cut has it all. They have furniture, mirrors, clothes, underwear, lamps, wall paper, kitchen appliances, makeup, purses, soaps, tapestries, office supplies, everything. I loved the household appliances too. They had singular mis-matching plates, silverware, cups, mugs, candles, etc.
I was headed to a family reunion last minute, and needed a gift basket for a raffle we were doing. I headed straight to Final Cut. I found a cute medal bucket everyone had looked past, because it was storing a bunch of smaller items that no one wanted. But, EVERYTHING is on sale here. I grabbed the bucket, and built a doggie care kit in it -- with the brand new dog collar, leash, poop bags, and treats I had laying around for the lost dog, Molly, I had taken in for a day before bringing her home. My mom snagged the basket RIGHT AWAY, only for the bucket.
I'm sad I don't live near a Final Cut anymore, but I think I bought enough furniture for a good while.
My one-bedroom apartment wasn't big, but it felt like home. Thank you Final Cut !
August 2017, Final Cut opened a new store in Marlboro, New Jersey. At that time, they had been sending the better furniture to that location to attract more customers to its opening. But now, I think you can find your treasure at either location. You can contact each location over the phone to ask when new shipment will be coming in. I recommend getting there the morning of a shipment, plan to spend a LOT of time there, and understand that every visit is a gamble. You may get lucky, you may not.
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