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Finding a late night or early morning flower arrangement recently became a little easier.

George Clements, owner of George's Flowers in Roanoke, has revived his shop's 24-hour flower kiosk. This is an assortment of pre-made flowers, from vases of 12 roses to daisy arrangments and bud vases, situated in a large cooler. 

The flowers are available for purchase at all hours of the day. The prices range from $10 to $30, and customers can pay with cash or credit card.

This popular kiosk was located at Floral Renditions, a floral shop on Brandon Avenue in Roanoke that Clements owned. But he closed Floral Renditions in October and consolidated the business with his other shop, George's Flowers, at the corner of Brandon Avenue and Franklin Road in Roanoke. Clements kept the 24-hour kiosk at the vacant shop for awhile, but he took it out in January.

This kiosk debuted at George's Flowers this month. You can find the kiosk inside the store's Brandon Avenue entrance.

The above photo, which shows some of the roses at George's Flowers' warehouse, was taken by Roanoke Times photographer Kyle Green.

Attention shoppers: If you like to land a good deal and shop in the early morning hours, Belk's charity sale this Saturday may spark your interest.

This week, for $5 at the store, you can buy a ticket admitting you to a charity sale at local Belk stores this Saturday. By presenting a ticket, shoppers receive 20 to 50 percent discounts on store merchandise, excluding cosmetics and fragrances, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday.

You'll also receive $5 off your first purchase of $5 or more. Belk cardholders receive double points for purchases using the card.

Proceeds from each $5 ticket will be donated to local charities, schools and non-profit organizations.

At the Valley View Mall Belk store, these are some of the local charities and non-profits that are signed up to benefit from the Saturday shopping event:

Rafiki Foundation, Springwood Baptist Church, India Heritage Society, Children's Discovery Center, Commonwealth Catholic Charities, Fountain of Life Church, Sabrina's Place, Grandin Theatre

Here are some of the local charities that will benefit from this shopping day at the Tanglewood Mall Belk store:

CHIP, Virginia League of the Roanoke Valley, Bonsack United Methodist youth group, Birthing Center of the Roanoke Valley, American Cancer Society, Sea Lion Rescue & Adoption League, I Can of Southwest Virginia

Are you a paper coupon clipper or an electronic coupon clipper? There's a difference in clipping methods these days. Coupons.com reports that more than 40 million people print online coupons, which is a 20 percent increase from last year. This jump is driven largely by the economic slowdown, reports this free coupon Web site.

In March, there were more online coupons printed for cereal than for any other product, based on Coupons.com users.

Here are the top 10 products for which consumers printed coupons in March. How do these match up with the grocery and other items that you're trying to save money on each month?

1. Ready to eat cereal

2. Baby products

3. Baking ingredients

4. Nutritional/diet items

5. Yogurt

6. Entertainment

7. Dessert items

8. Laundry supplies

9. Carbonated soft drinks

10. Personal care items

I learned a few more details about Kroger's new fuel center slated for Salem, adjacent to the grocer's store at Spartan Square on Main Street.

This gasoline station will have 10 pumps, including diesel fuel.

Construction of the new center should start this week or early in May, said Carl York, a Kroger spokesman. It could be several months until it opens, though York said he wasn't ready to name a specific date.

This new Salem fuel center will be Kroger's seventh in the Roanoke Valley. In January, the grocer opened its sixth fuel center near Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke.

Firehouse Subs is the second retailer to open its doors at Keagy Village in Southwest Roanoke County. This sub sandwich chain opened today. Chris and Carla Wissemann are the franchise owners.

Firehouse Subs has two other Roanoke Valley locations. One is at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke and another is in Salem on West Main Street.

NTelos is the only other retailer at Keagy Village. Dunkin Donuts already has its space at the center, but I haven't heard back from Andy Rod, the franchise owner, today about a specific opening date. Rod last told me that the doughnut shop would open this month.

Kahn Development Co., the South Carolina developer of Keagy Village, has said that it expects the shopping complex to house 105,000 square feet of retail space.

Many of the buildings are up, but they are vacant, except for NTelos and Firehouse Subs.

T.G.I. Friday's is taking a big step in bargain dining next month with plans to offer $5 salads and sandwiches all day every day.

This USA Today article about the promotion calls $5 meals the magic number, because the dollar amount generally is affordable for most everyone.

But can T.G.I. Friday's and other chains with $5 specials (such as Subway and Boston Market) afford to offer meals at such a discount? Read the story for the details.

I've had furniture on the brain today. That's because this week has been a big one for furniture news. Here's what I'm working on and learning:

Kroger's first regional furniture department: I'm working on a story about a large new furniture department housed inside Kroger's Vinton store. It carries sofas, chairs, dining room tables, lamps and more. The Vinton store is the first Kroger in the Mid-Atlantic region to offer this expansive home furnishings collection.

To find out more about it, check out my story tomorrow's newspaper and online.

Ashley Furniture HomeStore reopens: In case you missed the news from earlier this week, a Richmond-area retailer has reopened the Ashley Furniture HomeStore on Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke. The store shut its doors abruptly last year. Read my story to find out the scoop.

North Carolina furniture market: The High Point Market in North Carolina begins tomorrow and lasts through Thursday. This twice-yearly marketplace is called the largest furniture market in the world, and it's the place where furniture retailers go to scout out the newest designs.

This is an interesting story in the Triad Business Journal about how the national lending crisis is making it difficult for showroom owners to refinance loans on space at the High Point Market. Also, showroom vacancies are higher than usual.

Showrooms are housed in more than 180 buildings at this market.

UPDATE: Claire V. spokeswoman Kelly List Zappia said the company still is working on future plans at the 212 Market St. space, which it is leasing. She did not offer details.

"We have a few unique and amazing ideas on what to bring to the Market area," she said. "Right now it is the perfect spot for our warehouse sale."

Roanoke-based handbag design company, Claire V., is making plans for its spring warehouse sale that starts this weekend. The big sale begins tomorrow and lasts until Tuesday. A preview of the sale, complete with hors d'oeuvres and refreshments, is today from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Here you'll find many of Claire V.'s handbags and accessories sold at significantly discounted prices. This includes limited samples of the company's newest line of corn husk handbags, called Lola Starfish.

The warehouse sale is located at a storefront at 212 Market St. in downtown Roanoke, the former home of Good Things on the Market.  Its hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  this Friday, Monday and Tuesday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

This location isn't Claire V.'s actual retail shop and corporate headquarters. That's on Campbell Avenue and combined with Twist & Turns, a furniture and home decor store.

But a few more details have emerged about the fate of this former Good Things on the Market space. The storefront has been vacant since the owner announced that she was retiring and closing the shop in late December.

Apparently, Claire V. signed a five-year lease at this space in November, said Don Peterson, owner of the building. He told me that he doesn't know what Claire V.'s future plans are with this location.

Meanwhile, Kelly List Zappia, a Claire V. spokeswoman, told me in February that the handbag retailer planned to make its spot on 128 and 132 Campbell Ave. permanent. You can read a link to my past Sunday retail column with those details.

So, it's unclear what Claire V. will do with the Market Street retail space that it's renting, other than host the warehouse sale. I haven't yet heard back from Zappia on the future plans here.

It's Earth Day and you know what that means. Many retailers use Earth Day to market their eco-friendly efforts. Locally, there are discounts and giveaways at some stores in honor of Earth Day. If you know of other local Earth Day deals, share them with us.

Macy's: April 25th is the day to go shopping for an environmental cause at Macy's stores. The department store retailer holds its national charity shopping event this Saturday, called One Good Turn. By donating $5 at Macy's stores or at www.macys.com, you'll receive an all-day shopping discount for 20 percent off most merchandise, and 10 percent off home items. You'll also get $5 off a $15 store-wide purchase on that day.

Macy's will donate 100 percent of these ticket sales to the National Park Foundation and other local nonprofits that focus on protecting and conserving the environment.

Also, today, the first 150 kids to visit the Macy's children's department will receive a free Kid Power Activity Book from the National Park Foundation. It teaches children ways to keep the Earth healthy.

Handle with Care Packaging Store of Roanoke: This store on Brambleton Avenue is offering $2 vouchers that are good towards a UPS or FedEx shipment, in honor of Earth Day.

The retailer also is giving advice on ways to reduce material consumption. Here are some of the tips:

--Adjust the default size on a word processing program to use a smaller font and wider margins. This will help you to fit more text onto the page.

--Recycle corrugated cardboard.

--Use the smallest box for your packaging to reduce the amount of packaging material needed.

--Choose ground transportation when shipping a package. Trucks emit less emissions than airplanes.

Today is a big day for free giveways.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream is giving free scoops of ice ceam at its shops at Valley View Mall in Roanoke and at the New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg.

The chain created this giveaway event to thank its customers and to celebrate its 31st anniversary.

Also, if you stop by a Dunkin Donuts location, you can buy a small iced coffee for 50 cents today. With this purchase, 10 percent of the price will go to support the Homes for our Troops program, which builds or adapts handicapped accessible homes for severely injured veterans.