The Falls Shopping Center

Who hasn’t heard of Vera Bradley? I have been a Vera Bradley fan for over 13 years now. The first item I ever owned was my daughter’s diaper bag, a surprise gift from my husband. Of course, he had no idea who Vera Bradley was back then, he just thought I would really like it, and I did (I still have it). Ever since then, I have been a bit obsessed with Vera. What I’m really addicted to are the travel bags and accessories (smaller pouches, phone cases, beach towels). I became a real fan when we lived in Raleigh a few years ago, where Veras were sold everywhere and everyone uses them. Eventually, my daughter became obsessed too. She loves all the binders, pens, sticky notes, and every year she gets a new backpack and lunch bag with the latest pattern for school. We now live in Miami, and you don’t see many Veras around this neck of the woods, but we still love our bags! And lucky for us, there is a Vera Bradley store at the Falls Shopping Center.

The large duffel bag in beautiful prints. Photo courtesy of VeraBradley.com.

What I like most about these bags is that they’re washable. We travel a lot as a family, and I’m a bit of a “germaphobe”, so I love the fact that once we’ve returned from our trips, I can just pop these bags in the washer, and they’re ready to go again. They are also full of great compartments and pockets, which make packing a carry-on bag very easy.

A Vera fan from the start!

I also like that they’re quite durable. My daughter’s backpack is always in pretty good condition by the time schools ends, and I usually wash both the backpack and lunch bag several times during the year. This makes it very easy for resale on eBay or to give them away to friends.

Now, they are a bit pricey, but they are really well made. They only drawback that I see, is that in the past few years, they have changed the patterns and styles quite often, making it difficult to complete a collection (not an issue for me). But if you’re lucky you can still find some of the retired patterns on eBay.

And of course if you live anywhere near Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Vera is headquartered, you can attend their Annual Spring Outlet Sale, always held in April, with discounts of 40-60% off retail prices. I have never been to one of these sales (probably a good thing), but I have had the pleasure of visiting their outlet store in Orlando, which was quite the adventure. People were running all over the place grabbing anything they could get their hands on, so I can only imagine the craziness that takes place in Indiana!