The Oneida Outlet Store in Sherrill, New York

If you are furnishing a kitchen or want to explore a remarkable variety of gorgeous classic kitchenware, dinnerware, flatware or drinkware at rock bottom, almost unbelievable prices, you must shop at an Oneida Outlet Store. The one I recently visited is in Sherrill, New York, though there are now Oneida Outlet stores at numerous locations in the US and Canada.

The store in Sherrill, New York (in Upstate New York) is somewhat historic as it is located just blocks away from what had been, until recently, the actual Oneida Silver Factory. Oneida Silver was the famous company that was formed by the last generation of the the Oneida Community, the great 19th centiury Utopian experiment. The Oneida factory was sold some time ago and is no longer run by Oneida, but happily, the outlet store is an active and growing business.

What can you get at the Oneida Outlet Store? Since Oneida is still the leading international name in flatware, many people already have Oneida flatware but need to replace a few lost utensils. You will likely be able to find your pattern and replace your piece. The outlet has stainless steel.,silverplate and silver tableware. You can buy a whole service or individual settings, or, again, replacement pieces.

But that is only the beginning! Have you noticed the elegant white dinnerware that most finer restaurants have been using lately; including those with square plates and bowls and classic Japanese and Scandinavian inspired designs? A huge variety of this kind of extremely elegant dinnerware is available at the Oneida Outlet. and though I mentioned the white ware-- there are plenty of colorful styles with unique and novel glazes available. The cost of these dinnerware sets are far below regular retail costs.

If you do not need a large set, there is a whole huge room of further discounted items which includes wonderful industrial quality restaurant and diner-type ware. Some of these are extras from Syracuse China-- great heavy-duty oval plates; those wonderful thick mugs that make diner coffee taste so good, as well as lots of other odds and ends.

In this side of the store, we found boxed table settings for one in restaurant-grade heavy duty white porcelain. The quality of these pieces reminded me of 19th century British white stoneware or what was later called "vitreous china." These sets consisted of a dinner plate, a small plate, an excellent salad or cereal bowl, and an ample coffee cup, all for $5.00 per grouping. We bought four of these sets and got a further discount -- thus obtaining a service for four for less than twenty dollars. We love the size, shape, look and feel of these pieces and couldn't be more pleased with our purchase.

We recently returned to the outlet to replace some badly worm wine glasses. In the extra discount section, very beautiful and classically simple wine glasses were on sale for $2.00 per glass. Though glasses are generally cheap these days, purchases we have made at dollar stores and the like have proved to be disappointing. Cheap soft glass not only easily, it scratches and rainbows in the dishwasher. The glasses we bought at the Oneida Outlet were not of this cheap soft glass. They were much more akin to restaurant grade. We have already subjected them to many a dishwasher run and they have remained in beautiful condition.

The Oneida Outlet also has a great variety of cooking pots, kitchen gadgets and accessories. It's a great place to browse and to know that a purchase will buy you something solid and dependable and elegant for an excellent price.

You can visit the Oneida Outlet website for locations of their stores and to view samples of their wares at http://www.oneida.com/index.cfm.