Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Dollar Stores galore


Another sign of the economic slowdown may be the explosion of new "dollar" stores in this area of Florida. I have read somewhere that these stores are thriving. This store is new, located in a small strip center on the east side of Ocala and seems to be doing a booming business.

Just down the road are two other dollar stores, one brand new. We seen several others go up in recent months around Ocala.

39 comments:

Lee Spangler said...

Excellent post. Interesting subject. Dollar stores are also booming in Canada. Also here we have so many more garage sales where people are buying clothing and household goods.

Memphis MOJO said...

I have friends that occasionally go in the dollar store here in Memphis. They always buy more junk than they meant to. "But it was so cheap," they always say. I don't go in. I'd probably do the same thing, ha.

Olivier said...

les magasins de la crise, tout a 1$, on avait en france des magasins a tout a 10 Francs (maintenant tout a 2 euros).

magiceye said...

an economic adjustment

Don and Krise said...

I don't think you're alone on this one. But, I do think that there are a select few of the "dollar" stores that are noticeably a cut above the rest. Hey, any good deals on cameras in there?

Sean said...

Consolation in the fact that at least a Dollar can still buy something...

VP said...

We got our Euro store and they are thriving too, but they are less picturesque of this one. Good catch, Jacob!

Unseen Rajasthan said...

We have one shop of this kind in Jaipur-India also !!Great post and lovely shot..Unseen Rajasthan

Pat said...

Dollar stores are addictive...I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame...and always spend more than I planned, if I planned at all. This one is extra-evil, offering a 'buy one, get one free.' Too bad I'm so far away...

Pat said...

And I should add that at least they've correctly punctuated 'thing's' with the apostrophe....

Small City Scenes said...

Amazing!!

We have the 'Dollar Plus' stores here. I guess some things are a dollar and then the price goes up.
MB

Diederick Wijmans said...

We have the "discount" chain here in Italy which are so needed in this difficult period of time! Ciao. Diederick

melanie said...

La maison d'hier était en très mauvais état ! For sale ! No !

"Dollar store" je ne connaissais pas ce système.

Hilda said...

And I just told Kaori in Tokorozawa, Japan that I loved their 100yen shops. This would be the same thing.

Jim Klenke said...

In Terrell we have a Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Family Dollar, Dollar Store. We had a 2nd Dollar Store but I guess it couldnt compete.

brattcat said...

If we are to believe the signs, everything is actually only 50 cents if you buy two.

Cezar and Léia said...

oh it's so popular in Brazil!
Léia ;)

Marie said...

Good for people who don't have too much money. When I was in the US last year I used to go one of these in Norwalk and would buy lots of useless things because they were so cheap that I didn't realize I was spending (wasting) my money :-)))

B SQUARED said...

Seems like they have to sell an awful lot to pay the rent.

Lois said...

They are all over the place here too! You have to be careful though, because a lot of the stuff in there is junk and not even worth the dollar.

Daryl said...

have you shopped there? we have 99 cent stores here but nothing in them is ever 99 cents ...

Halcyon said...

Everything's a dollar and buy one get one free? Maybe they'll start paying you to shop there!

Virginia said...

Oh I LURV a good Dollar Store. We have Dollar Tree stores. I just call it "The Tree"! HA I buy too much but it's so cheap and fun.
V

Lowell said...

@ Daryl - We have a lot of these stores, as I said, and some them have slightly different names...

While we didn't shop here, we've been in other similar stores and have also found that, in fact, not everything is a dollar!

Lowell said...

@ Don and Krise - Not a chance!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, but these stores HAVE to be cheap cuz they're sell cheap stuff. At least the ones here do. Now, if Pier One sold $1 stuff, that would be an accomplishment! hehehehehehehehehehee

Allison said...

I've been looking for a cheap skeleton...

Speaking of Ocala, Florida...On my way to work at HFN today, I drove behind a van from Wisconsin (we won't hold that against that person or persons) and what do you think was written on their spare tire cover??? "Ocala Florida!!" Do you know these peeps? I can't imagine very many Wisconsin-ites in Florida...it's hard to wear the cheese-head hats in the heat!

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Not everything at our dollar stores is trash. If you pay attention and think, you can sometimes get good bargains. Some dollar stores are better than others. (Not everything at Pier I is that great, either).

Nice capture of an economic trend. Perhaps an essential one? Colorful!

Lowell said...

@ Mary - You're right; but from what I've seen, most of it is pretty junky. I also agree re: Pier 1 - lots of junk there sometimes!

Lowell said...

Very funny, Allison. I think in some of these stores you can find a cheap skeleton. What, pray tell, would you need one of these for? Oh, sure, to put in Leif's chair when he's out playing golf. What, you think a client wouldn't know the difference?

You know, every once in awhile we see cars with Wisconsin license plates. Heck, my sister's from Wisconsin but she doesn't come to visit very often and when she does, she flies down.

I don't recall the van you're speaking of, though. Was it old, dirty and blue?

EG CameraGirl said...

Dollar stores here are becoming Dollar Plus stores. Hmmm. Does that mean the Canadian economy is improving?

Unknown said...

Before the € (2002) we had the '300 stores' - you could buy everything for around 300 escudos (1,5€)- but they have been replaced by chinese shops where everything is extremely cheap.

Stefan Jansson said...

No Dollar stores where I live. But that could of course be because we have another currency :-)

eamon@ewmphotography said...

What a shiny shop! Pound shops are ubiquitous here too. In Japan the Hyaku-en (100 Yen) shops have been immensely popular over the last 10 years or so. Cheap Chinese goods have flooded the world. Pretty amzing what they can produce for pennies these days

Rose said...

They have been up here for a while...you just have to watch. Some are good bargains and some are not worth two cents. The trick is to know the difference.

Leif Hagen said...

I only have 74 cents in my piggy bank. What can I buy there?!

Lowell said...

Mr. Dear Mr. Safe Leif: You're out of luck!

John said...

Olivier, magasins avec tout a dix francs (deux Euro) sont, en Les Etats Unis, trois dollars. La meme chose en France est trois francs. Avez-vous des magasins comme ca?

Buenos Aires Photoblog said...

There are winners and losers in every crisis. These shops are definitely among the winners. Just my 2 cents ... (; Well spotted, Jacob.

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson