After seeing the small ads in the paper for Davidson's tea factory outlet sale for years, I finally made it over there last year and wished I had gone sooner. I watched for the ad this year and went there today for the first day of this season's sale. Now that I've had my chance to buy what I wanted, I can reveal the secret here.

Davidson's sells organic specialty teas and accessories on line and by mail. It's only once a year that they set up a room for their outlet sale and invite the public in.

The temporary outlet store has lots of teas, almost all organic. Some are there just because the company has updated the packaging. They're in tins, small packets, gift boxes, assortments and so on. I had to restrain myself from buying a lot of tea because I'm still working on all the tea I bought last year! However, I found some bargains including a cute ceramic tea caddy for 50 cents and a one-of-a-kind spoon-like infuser for $1. Besides tea and tea caddies, they have plenty of possible stocking stuffers including infusers, teapot calendars, $1 mugs and so on.

You also will find lots of tea cups and tea pots, which seemed to be full price to me, as did the gift baskets, canisters and unfilled tins and baskets.

It smells great when you walk in, the people are nice, and they provide tea to sample while you're shopping. I hope you don't wait as long as I did to check it out!

DETAILS: Davidson's is at 700 E. Glendale Ave. in Sparks, a few blocks east of the intersection of Glendale and McCarran. It's not hard to find, and there is plenty of parking. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It will run through Dec. 22, and after that you'll have to wait another year.