"Everything Here Is $1.00... Except This.. And This... And This..."
Reader Summer B. says that dollar stores are raising their prices. She visited a dollar store in PA where everything was a dollar... except this... and this... oh, and this...
I visited my hometown of Kingston, PA this past weekend. While there, I checked out one of the local, non-chain (I think?) dollar stores called Dollar Surplus. They carry your typical dollar store fare -- children's toys, plastic kitchen utensils, socks, goofy ceramic figurines, holiday decorations, and the obligatory wall full of Trisonic batteries and electronics.
The signs in the store's window advertise everything as a dollar. While poking around to see if I could find anything useful, I found over ten exceptions to the "dollar" rule, all hand-written in market on index cards... No more extension cords or pot-bellied frog lamps for only a buck.
GALLERY
END
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There is a 'dollar store' around me that does this, but it's called "Dollar Plus". I guess the price starts at a dollar and the 'plus' is a CYA :)
The whole concept of those "only-a-dollar" stores always irked me. I never found one that stocked ONLY one dollar items so the name seems disengenious. I don't care if the items are a little more or less than a dollar, frankly as the products they sell are pretty much just junk.
I would strongly caution anyone from purchasing a power cord or xmas lights from a dollar store.
Hi, everything is $1.00 here, except this post. It's $1.29. Thank you!
it's sad when a chinese-made-goods retail-outlet (dollar store) can't keep prices at $1 or less.
we are definitely in the "economic shitter" now
@mariospants: 99Cent Only stores sell EVERYTHING for 99Cents. Well, now it's 99.99Cents, but it basically rounds it off to a dollar (which makes figuring out tax very easy).
So ... yeah. And they actually have a LOT of name-brand stuff.
I thought it was bad when "99 cent power" changed their name to "Dollar Power" last year. They have a lot of stuff that's more than a buck, but at least it's clearly marked with those wonderful hand made signs!
This is hardly news. Over in the Bay Area (Ca), "dollar stores" routinely have items that equate to 10% of the floor inventory priced higher than $1.00 or $1.25 (some of our "dollar stores" are actually $1.25 stores).
It seems that although the variety of the products may change, the prices keep going up for substandard products.
I wouldn't want to expose myself to some of the things dollar stores. They just scream "lead!"
Besides, the people that work there creep me out.
It's a dollar store- these things don't exactly ooze integrity or quality. It's a brick-and-mortar flea market. If the OP wanted to write about it as a signal of economic hardships, it's a good story. If the OP was genuinely upset, just wow...
Well, at least Dollarama is still $1 for everything (or less, chocolate bars are 65 cents and some items are 2 or 3 for $1). I don't see anyone complaining about the prices that are LESS than $1. :-)
And those are $CDN!
This is a sad trend... I was in my local Dollar store looking to buy a cheap broom... Actually, I really wanted the broom handle and didn't care about the business end of the broom at all. I selected my broom head and handle, and wandered up to the till. When it was my turn the staffer rang it up at $2... I asked is this broom really $2? No came the reply the broom is 1$ and the handle is $1... I laughed and said well then I'll just take the handle... paid my $1 and walked out. The staffer was stunned that I didn't want the broom head too. As if she would have to buy an extra handle to sell this orphaned broom head...
This is no Different than Kmarts new huge banner
FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING!
Excludes Furniture, TV's and computers. See Details
Standard practice....
Hi, every post here is topical except this one. This post is satire. Thank you!
I've only been in a dollar store once and I'll never go back. I feel really cheap and poor when I walk into one, it was really depressing.
How about calling it "Dollar Something" store.
"Everything is $1.00 except this"
Do the signs negate each other? If everything is $1.00 except this then everything else is $1.00. Even the item you are looking at is $1.00 because it would fall under the everything category from one of the other signs.
@mariospants: Dollar Tree stores still have everything for a dollar, and they have some CUTE Christmas gift bags that look just as nice as the five dollar ones at Target.
@GreatWhiteNorth: I think it was more along the lines of "do they know they cant sweep without the bottom part?"
@MissPeacock: Agreed. The only non-dollar items I've seen at Dollar Tree are items that are 2, 3, or 4 for a dollar (=less than a dollar), though I don't see them very often.
That is why I love Dollar Tree...everything is truly priced at $1 (or less) and the stores are much more organized. Sure, they sell "junk" too, but they do sell some good things like $1 USB Cables, sunglasses (I lose these things like carkeys..), etc.
@mariospants: seriously, it's $1, and at what expense? oh, only the mistreatment of chinese children making that junk for pennies. but whatevs.
@zentex: My father runs a dollar-plus store that started as a dollar only store. He fought like hell to keep it at only a dollar, but once prices of things started skyrocketing, items that used to cost him 75 to buy wholesale now cost more than a dollar, thus showing the need for the "plus". It's not all their fault.
@The 12 Men on the Field Watch Intern: They might be lying to you through their teeth with the "everything here is $1", but at least they were nice enough to say hi!
@JulesNoctambule: The salutation makes all the difference. It's not a price tag, it's a friendly conversation!
@mariospants: Dollar stores are a great place to buy things like paper products and cleaning supplies. The chain ones all sell national brands, as well, so honestly there's no difference save for the fact that you're probably paying less.
Though at times, I've seen Dollar General outprice CVS. Gofigure.
I love dollar stores. They're perfect for wrapping paper and gift bags, things you'll use and throw away. Target is selling gift bags for $1 too, which is awesome, but once that promotion is over, people will spend $4 on a gift bag that will be used once or twice and get tossed. Why even do it? I bought four rolls of wrapping paper, gift tags and a pack of three boxes for $5.25. As I was walking out of the store, I was wondering whether I was getting suckered because dollar store rolls of wrapping paper probably don't have as much paper...but who wants to spend $3.50 on a roll of wrapping paper? I wanted variety, and I didn't want a ton of leftover paper because I don't have room to store it.
The key to shopping for seasonal items at the dollar store is to get the most for your money. I got three rolls at 40 to 50 square inches while there were rolls that had as little as 12.5 square inches. I have no idea how much 40 square inches is, but I figure that I have more paper and I'm being charged the same, so I'm the winner in this deal.
Who buys gift bags?
As a kid, I used to roll my eyes when my grandmother would gather up used wrapping paper and fold it carefully for reuse.
I'd never do that. But a gift bag? Heck yeah. Shoot, I've got gift bags with the Goonies on em.
Anyhow, I remember when 99 Cent Stores started popping up around Los Angeles. That was what, 1983? Let's move on to the $2 price point already.
@mxjohnson: Every year I have a bunch of gift bags I reuse for the next year..I just moved, and all the gift bags disappeared or got thrown out, so I had to restock. Otherwise, I'm keeping those things stored away to reuse for next year.
Nothing beats the 99¢ Only Store and their price increase... rather than rename the company they raised their prices to 99.99¢.
That's right, they're .001¢ cheaper than the dollar store.
@mbz32190: As a teacher, Dollar Tree is incredible. It's a cheap source of things that normally the education companies want to charge tons for. Yes, they sell junk, but not everything is. Some things are priced well below what they are elsewhere!
When I was a kid in the 70s I used to go to this five-and-ten-cent store. They had a great soda fountain. But nothing, and I mean nothing, was either five or ten cents.
I suppose the dollar store is bound to go the same way.
@mariospants: I think Dollar Stores are a blessing to many lower income consumers. I hit our local Dollar Tree at least once a month and pick up ibuprofen, cheap socks, ear bud covers for my headset, etc. They have tons of stuff, admittedly often in smaller packages but if you're on a limited budget sometimes buying a smaller package makes sense.
And I have never seen anything for more than a dollar there.
The dollar stores I go to are the real dollar stores, Dollarrama, and Everything for a Dollar are both great.
Dollarrama has some great legit license character products, SpongeBob, Disney, and Marvel stuff. I bought a Spongebob Birthday card, the same kind of quality you would expect to pay around 2.50 for.
Our local Dollar Stores actually carries PREGNANCY TESTS !!!!
As much as I do love the dollar store, I would think someone concerned about that topic might spring for a trip to their local drugs store ...
@mbz32190:
DOLLAR TREE Rocks !
We have them here in PA and I must say other than food items, I get a lot of useful stuff there and I enjoy paying half what the Walmart crowd pays for the exact same thing :-)
@JulesNoctambule:
Oh if only they offered their "all... except this..." friendly deals online so we could all enjoy! Really, it makes a difference. For instance...
"Hi, we're taking this situation very seriously...."
"Hi, we are looking into the incident..."
"Hi, please take your money elsewhere"
Team HI FTW !!
See? All the difference in the world!
As a dollar store owner (yes I'm Indian, I swear to god its a coincidence) I can tell you that most of us are raising prices because items that used to cost 55-60 cents are now running about 68-75 cents. Blame the economy, we need to keep food on our tables too!
I don't know why, but the tone of those little notes is making me giggle.