The extremely popular Thymes warehouse sale will be held Sept. 17-19, Thursday through Saturday. The soaps and scents sale with discounts of 50 to 75 percent draws long lines of bargain shoppers on its opening day. The 22 year old sale used to be an annual tradition, but in recent years the sales have been on and off. There was no sale in 2012 and a scaled-back pop-up sale in 2013. After hundreds of complaints, the full-blown sale was brought back last year.

Minneapolis retail expert Jim McComb explained that many warehouse sales were dropped in the recession as manufacturers tightened their inventory control. Thymes vice-president of operations Cindy Andersen said the reason for the sale this year is due mostly to packaging changes and some discontinued scents (about six) but also some overstocks.

"People will be delighted with the selection this year," Andersen said. "We expect it to be our biggest sale ever."

Last year the privately-held company moved the sale from Minneapolis to Edina and this year's sale remains in Edina at the same location, 4660 W. 77th St. Hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Traffic may be blocked on Highway 100 on Saturday, Andersen said, so attendees should seek alternate routes.

The space is slightly smaller than the Minneapolis warehouse location, so different items will be put out each day. "We don't have room to put all items out at once," Andersen said.

Prices will be similar to last year's. Here are samples from last year's sale:

$1: diffuser reeds, decorative sachets, votive candle glass, gift bags

$2: bath salt envelopes, bag of 25 Thymes sample packets

$3: large paper and silk gift bags, soap dishes, home fragrance mist, refresher oils, empty diffuser bases

$4: bars soap, .4 oz. petite cologne, wax melt, mini candles,

$6-$8: body wash, shower gels, cologne, potpourri bowl, body butter

$10-$15: rolls of ribbon, pinecone lantern candle, gift sets, Pomander, aroma diffusers, sink sets and tissue paper bundles.

If you can't make it to the sale, check out a few sale items at the Thymes website. Tuesday only, the Frasier Fir essential oil (reg. $30) is discounted 50 percent with discount code BUCKY15. Click on SALE on the Thymes header for additional sale items (pictured).