You can have Santa's chair for $300 as Macy's starts unloading items in storage

The closing sale at Macy's in downtown Minneapolis expanded Thursday with the reopening of the building's fourth floor as space to sell furniture, fixtures and other backroom items.

The move comes after Macy's lowered the discounts for most items last week to 30 percent to 50 percent from the previous range of 20 percent to 40 percent.

With escalators closed above the third floor in the store, customers need to take the elevator to reach the fourth floor.

Once there, customers will find plenty of small items priced to move, including scores of salt shakers, serving plates and mixing bowls from the restaurants priced at $1 and up.

"The food-service items are the real deal," Matt Nelson of Vadnais Heights said as he checked out the sale over his lunch hour Thursday. "I just texted my wife to see what we need. If I were in the restaurant business, I could make a real haul."

The selection was almost boggling for some shoppers. Megan Fredrickson of St. Paul thought the prices were reasonable but choosing was difficult. "I have my eye on Fiestaware and some dining-room chairs," she said.

Beside rows and rows of metal and wood clothing racks sat dozens of tiny display stands from the women's shoe department for $2. One of the most expensive items was a woven tapestry of Arabian horses for $1,000 which sat incongruently next to boxes of toothpicks, bamboo skewers and a Vienna hot dog stand.

Large, framed art pieces are $50, including a Georgia O'Keefe print and a life-size photograph of a bikini-wearing model. Two Tiffany-style art-glass lamps that framed the entrance to the men's FYI department are $100 each.

Many items are historical, one-of-a-kind memories, including Santa's chair ($300) used on the eighth-floor Santaland and the annual Breakfast with Santa, a large, brass coffee urn ($100) presumably from the Oak Grill, and sandwich boards from the Oak Grill ($50). Furniture such as a leather love seat ($250) and end tables ($30 to $50) are included.

A rep at the sale Wednesday evening said that new items will continue to be put out as merchandise sells, but that prices will not be reduced further.

Other recent additions are Oriental rugs at 60 percent off in the lower level. Macy's, which owns Bloomingdale's, added rugs to the going out of business sales in downtown St. Paul and Bloomingdale's in Mall of America.

The sale downtown at Macy's is expected to last into March.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633