Do you think $1 stores are the great bargains they once were?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Years ago, "dollar store" sold goods for, well, $1 and they had lots of bargains. Yet, have they maintained that level of great bargains. A frozen dinner @ a $1store was $3,59, at a grocery-$3.57. I was buying some window cleaner at a $1 store, when a fellow customer told me it was $1 less at a nearby grocery. Do you think $1 stores are the great bargains they once were?
 

In my opinion, yes they are. Here in Canada the Dollarama stores are a god send to those who have to mind their pennies. AS a result their stock shares are worth over $55 a share, in the Toronto Stock Exchange, and they are VERY profitable. They have contracts with many North American corporations, who provide Dollarama with "unbranded products " that are the same as the advertised products like Campbells soup , Beef a Roni, Proctor and Gamble, Kellog's, and many other names. They also import products from Japan, South Korea and Europe. I recently bought a one liter jar of garlic dill pickles produced in Hungary, for $3. A similar Canadian produced jar is $7. No name potato chips at $1.29, versus $3.99 at Metro or Loblaws. I wear a pair of their sun glasses, that I paid $1.25 for. Some people look down their nose at "discount stores " but seniors and college students " shop there, to make the best use of their money. Jimb.
 

I have rarely shopped in one. Though I shop sometimes at the Dollar General but they have never been $1.00 and they sell brand name items. A dollar store just opened within walking distance of me and I have not made it to it yet. My friend walks there all the time and she likes it. I don't care for the cheap quality type of items so not sure I will like it. I will let you know what I think of it after I have gone to it.
 
I buy garbage bags...20 for $2.50...paper towels...cutlery...pop, chips, candy...cat food, kitchen utensils, dishwasher pods, laundry detergent...etc.

I'm at my Dollar Store all of the time.
 
Depends on what you‘re looking for. I buy Betty Crocker or Rubbermaid plastic containers for freezing soup. Half the price of other stores. Some items cost more.

Lots of junk. It’s tempting to buy some stuff just because it’s cheap. When you get home, you have lots of junk.

I see parents, including my daughter, throwing thing in the cart for the kids. No wonder we have problems with excess consumption.
 
Recently I bought a For Sale sign, soap saver sponge and a pair of reading glasses. The glasses fell apart. The other two purchases were good and I hadn’t found them in other stores.
 
Where I live the $1.00 stores have gone to $1.25 for each item and they also have a $3.00 and $5.00 aisle. I still go to the Dollar Store, but I know if I go to Walmart or the grocery store and am able to buy some items for the same price. The main convenience for me is that the Dollar Store is close to where I live and I don’t need to travel farther away to buy an item I want to buy.
 
For some things, yes. For instance, at the Dollar Tree, gift bags are a good buy, especially at Christmas. I buy food containers there too. No food, ever. But the Dollar Tree used to be everything for $1. Because of inflation, it’s now the $1.25 Tree.
 
Everything at Dollar Tree is now $1.25. When it was still $1.00 for everything, I bought some lotion for $1.00. I saw the same lotion in another store for $2.00 but it was twice the amount, so by unit volume you were paying the same.

I went to Dollar Tree a few days ago and the lady in front of me bought over $60 worth of $1.25 stuff. Jeeze!!!
 
I buy a certain lotion at Dollar Tree, now $1.25. On Amazon, it sells three tubes for anywhere between $9 to $15. That's a good bargain at DT. Walmart doesn't carry it.

Other things like gift bags, holiday doo-dads, disposable party items are also a bargain.

I buy big plastic bowls, trays and serving utensils when going to a potluck and don't have to worry about getting them back. The disposable foil baking pans are a good buy, too.

The best thing about Dollar Tree is taking the little 'uns there. I say, you can buy three things or five things and that's good for an hour of fun. They have to decide what's the best deal....two medium sized balls or three small ones? Spend it all on nail polish or also get the gag eyeglasses? Coloring books and pens or sidewalk chalk.

I always make them put the rejects back where they belong so it teaches manners, too.

A promise of going to Dollar Tree has kept two generations of little girls and boys in line.
 
We buy birthday cards and facial tissues at a Dollar Tree. The cards are either 50 cents or a dollar....usually marked as 3 or 4 dollars by the manufacturer. Their generic Kleenex are $1.25....$2, or more at most other stores.
 
It's all relative. Still bargains to be had but exercise caution. It's probably not a good idea to buy tools there and when buying food products, check the expiration dates. Also not a good idea to buy batteries in a dollar store.

Yup. Dollar stores are now $1.25. Down here they're now called Dollar+.
 
Georgiagranny said:
It's all relative. Still bargains to be had but exercise caution. It's probably not a good idea to buy tools there
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Good point. False economy. I learned my lesson when I used a dollar store USB cord with an almost-new power pack. The cheap cord pulled the metal clip right out of the power pack, which couldn't be repaired.

I also won't buy certain items from Walmart, for similar reasons.
 
CarolfromTX said:
For some things, yes. For instance, at the Dollar Tree, gift bags are a good buy, especially at Christmas. I buy food containers there too. No food, ever. But the Dollar Tree used to be everything for $1. Because of inflation, it’s now the $1.25 Tree.
Click to expand...
I also get the gift bags, tissue paper. rubbermaid containers and aluminimum cooking pans for baking at the holidays.
 
Actually, I went to one recently. The $1.00 signs were marked out with a felt tip pen and $1.75 was written sloppily beside the prices!
I started laughing!

But, NOW, I look at where things are made. Turn it over, if it says CHINA, I put it back down.
 
Dollar Tree is good for gift bags 1.25,cards,2/1.00 still,plastic containers ( Tupperware style),throw away foil pans.
Every Dollar General has a dollar deals aisle,I buy my cleaning products there, there's also some OTC medicines too.
I don't have a problem with the price going to 1.25, actually surprised they've been able to hold it there with diesel hitting 5.50/ gallon.
 
There are 4 Dollar Tree stores in my shopping circuit. They all don't have all the same items and some of the stores are cleaner, neater, etc.

I get the Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Sheets that fit the toaster oven tray as well as my smaller baking trays. 25 in a box or sometimes they have a brand name I don't know, with 30 in a box. I buy both.

Parchment paper, love it. Foil pans, plastic storage containers for the kitchen and the craft/art stuff, too. Get them if I need and they catch my eye.

I used to buy tissue paper there, but now there are only a few sheets in a package, and I have enough to work with already. The current stock is not particularly interesting to look at. I use it for art projects.

A few weeks ago i bought two different sized foamer bottles. I think they had hand soap or sanitizer in them. If the smell didn't bother me, I added the stuff to what I had. Anyway, I wanted solid color foamer bottles to use in the kitchen and so far, they are working.

All of the spray bottles from Dollar Tree have broken within a short time. They were quart size and cute colorful small sizes. I won't buy spray bottles from DT anymore. I went to Target for the next small spray bottle, though the "UP" logo on everything is annoying. They cost a quarter more than at DT.

Years ago I bought Sesame Seeds in a big size and Cinnamon Sugar also. Never seen them since.

I regularly buy goblets for me. I have hand and wrist issues and the stem on the goblet is less painful to hold than a regular size glass.

I bought a straw hat at DT a couple of years ago. It was cute, FIT, and had had a mauve ribbon around which is good quality.

I don't buy food except for cookies, maybe after I check the dates, and not often.

A month ago I needed Contact Paper to cover the wood shelves I had put up in a closet. It was more economical to buy the wood at Home Depot, have them cut it and then cover with Contact Paper than buy pre covered MDF shelves which I still would have had to personally saw to fit.

The CP was really not all that lovely and I stopped in a second DT on my rounds and they had a better selection, so I swapped for the new design.

There are faux silk flowers and metal wreath forms from DT waiting for me, too. So many projects...

There are two lamps which use 3-way bulbs. DT is the cheapest place to buy them. $1.25 vs over $12.00 per bulb elsewhere. Walmart near me doesn't even carry any 3-way bulbs for at least the past two years. The cheaper bulb is being phased out in the US and maybe other countries, too, so it is getting harder to find 3-way bulbs for my needy eyes. 50/100/150 that's what I use.

Family Dollar and Dollar General in my area are cramped, messy, and not worth the higher costs, to me.
 

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