By Gabriela Resto-Montero and Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Staff
HERALD SQUARE — New Yorkers celebrated Presidents Day by bundling up and hitting the stores to snap up discounted clothes, furniture and other items on sale around Manhattan on Monday.
Macy’s tempted a small but devoted crowd with deals on mattresses, couches, and home decor, as well as clothes and accessories.
Margaret Thiakodenitris got her shopping spree started early, traveling from her home in Astoria, Queens, to the Macy’s at Herald Square in search of a brown leather mission-style recliner.
The 71-year-old retiree said she had been keeping an eye on that recliner style for some time, and decided to buy it when it went on sale for $499, $100 off the original price.
"I got a lot of gift certificates for Christmas and that's what I'm going to use," Thiakodenitris said.
Karen Turner turned up at the Herald Square Macy’s to buy clothes for her grandkids.
"I'll probably save about $100," said Turner, 45, from Brooklyn. "I just know that usually they have a lot of eye-catching items up for sale."
Jack Otter, 45, a news web editor for CBS' MoneyWatch.com, put his money savvy to work Monday, shopping at Macy's for a bed.
"It was a combination of we need this, and the sales are on," said Otter, from Brooklyn. who went bed hunting with his wife. Otter said he got a "double whammy" of a sale by bringing his 20 percent off discount card he received in the mail, bringing his total savings to 40 percent off.
Germania Rojas, 63, of the Upper West Side, had a less than pleasant shopping experience, after Macy's staffers refused to let her use all of her sales coupons.
"We came here for the sales, you budget for how much you're going to save, and then they don't take the card," she said, saying she got stuck paying 20 percent off for a full bed sheet set, instead of the added $10 off coupon she hoped to add on top.
For Victoria Hall, 44, who was visiting New York from England, the sale was even better when she factored in the exchange rate. Hall bought a pair of Born boots marked down from $175 to $50.
"I live in London, it comes out to about £31.97," Hall said.
"That's worth the fare alone," she joked.
Store windows along 34th street were filled with sale offerings, including a 44 percent off sale at Gap in honor of the nation’s 44 presidents.
Gap shopper Andrew Hirshman, 24, of Brooklyn, went looking for appropriate clothes for a round of interviews he has scheduled this week.
Hirshman, who was accompanied by his mom, spent $300 for a $700 charcoal suit at Macy's before moving on to Gap for some dress shirts and khakis.
"The way me and my mom shop, we plan for the sales," said Hirshman, who said his next stop would be shopping for shoes.
