Whats the deal with dollar stores?
Dollar stores have traditionally gotten a bum rap. Rarely does one see a person reusing a shopping bag with 99 Cents Only or Everything’s A Dollar emblazoned across it to bring lunch to work instead of the more fashionable Dean and DeLuca or Williams-Sonoma bag. Moneyed patrons searching for bargains may hide their dollar store obsession like a guilty secret. Of course, when the economy’s up, they usually pass right by the dollar store on their way to more expensive shops. It’s true that some dollar stores are better than others. There are locations that offer loitering panhandlers in addition to cheap consumer goods. Others can be kind of scary, with automated voices informing each entering customer that he or she will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, should he or she plan on shoplifting during the visit. Of course, not all dollar stores carry such stigmas; some are quite nice inside. So, why should shopping at dollar stores have such a bad reputation in the United Stat
