Home Valu's GOB sale becomes an auction I don't get too excited about discounts when stores announce going-out-of-business sales because the initial discounts are modest. Didn't Linens N Things start its GOB sale at 10 percent off everything? Yawn. So I thought I'd wait a couple of weeks before heading to Home Valu to check out the current discounts. I tried to reach the stores by phone first, but the connections weren't in service. All stores are now closed, including the Fridley location. The Bloomington location has a sign on the door to go to www.auctionmasters.com. The site indicates that an auction begins at 7 p.m. Monday for items at the Bloomington location (1901 W. American Blvd.). Inspection is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Monday at the store. Bids are already in progress online for those items. I was unable to reach anyone at the company to confirm if each location will have a separate auction on Auctionmasters.com. Earlier this week the Home Valu website was under construction.

Sale at local audio/video transfer service Want your old LPs, cassettes or reel-to-reel tapes transferred to CD or MP3 format? Family Ties Video (3601 Park Center Blvd., Suite 306, St. Louis Park, 952-929-6484, www.familytiesvideo.com) will do the work for about $16.95 per album, regularly $25, through March 21. Audio cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes are $16.95 per CD. The CD includes separate songs into tracks, a track listing, and copied cover art and jewel case. Songs can also be transferred to an MP3 player with or without CDs.

Further discounts apply for volume. Family Ties does all of its audio and video transfer services in-house. If you have a lot of LPs to convert, consider buying one of the machines that will do it for you. The Ion LP Dock or Ion Tape 2 are about $150 or less. Best Buy sells other brands.

Galleria retailers pool clearance Four Galleria retailers (Arafina, Melly, Pumpz and Whymsy) combine their fall/winter clearance at a "warehouse" sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Everything is marked down 50 to 90 percent, including women's clothing from Milly, Nanette Lepor and Lilly Pulitzer, as well as accessories and shoes from Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Frye, Stuart Weitzman, Donald Pliner and Trina Turk. Cash and checks are accepted. All sales are final. The sale is held in the former Oilily location between Coach and Good Earth.

Lofthouse bakery outlet now open Saturdays Arguably the best bakery outlet in the Twin Cities, Lofthouse (7350 Commerce Lane, Fridley, 763-586-6241) is certainly the cheapest. Artisan unsliced bread loaves are only $1 each. Slightly smaller, sliced varieties are only 50 cents. What's new are the extended hours. The outlet is now open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays. Six to eight bread varieties are offered daily. The outlet is also an excellent bargain if you need multiple loaves (five to 20, for example) for sandwiches for a large gathering, although you cannot request flavors in advance.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633 or jewoldt@startribune.com. If you spot a deal, share it at www.startribune.com/blogs/dealspotter.