Comments (119)

1. Ummm, no, they’re not confused about the legal drinking age in California; that’s just to placate cranky 25-year-olds who resent having to present their ID when buying alcohol. Hundreds of thousands of liquor stores across the US have similar signs implying that if you don’t have silver hair and wrinkles, you are going to be carded. Liquor laws, you know. Sure, the store owners misspelled “you’re,” but this is some seriously misplaced snark, since I’ve seen Mental Floss bloggers make worse typos (such as using “sike” instead of “psyche”).

   posted by Jill on 1-24-2008 at 3:49 am

2. A lot of stores have a policy to card anyone that appears to be under the age of 30. In fact, the registers we run at my store prompts “Customer look over 30? Yes=99 No=11″ whenever an age restricted item has been scanned.

   posted by Charlie on 1-24-2008 at 4:01 am

3. It’s sort of off the subject, but I saw a sign today in my base’s EDUCATION CENTER, that read: “Costumer Hours:”. I chuckled to myself and promptly got creeped out stares.

   posted by Tricia on 1-24-2008 at 4:27 am

4. Im just a bit confused that they sell liquor at a 99 cent store. That whole concept seems a bit odd to me.

   posted by Sarah on 1-24-2008 at 4:45 am

5. That ’99c only’ sign looks just like the Mountain Dew logo…

   posted by Andy on 1-24-2008 at 4:45 am

6. There is an excellent Japanese dollar store near me. I got some grandpa finger puppets with velcro goiters for my friend’s new baby.

   posted by Bernadette on 1-24-2008 at 5:13 am

7. In this neck of the woods, we have Dollar Tree, Dollar Max, Smilin’ Dollar, Dollar Mart, and some others… but they are not exactly equivalent, since we pay a penny more.

   posted by Miss Cellania on 1-24-2008 at 5:28 am

8. We used to have this sweet little $1 store named Deal$. I say “used” because they now stock just about everything and have prices way over a dollar. but back in the day, it was a haven for misplaced items. I won my Mom’s eternal love for finding a discontinued line of Christmas glasses there that she had purchased the previous year and couldn’t find replacements for anywhere for $1 a piece my freshman year of college. It’s also the best place around to buy tea lights and gift wrap.

   posted by Ashley on 1-24-2008 at 5:57 am

9. The weirdest find I’ve ever had at a dollar store are pregnancy tests. These things normally cost like 5-8 bucks at a pharmacy type store but they have them here at our local dollar store.

   Very convenient when my wife insists that she HAS to be pregnant

   posted by Dan on 1-24-2008 at 6:26 am

10. #9 Dan- The pregnancy tests are actually more sensitive than most you can find in other stores. They are also the same as used in many physicians offices!

    posted by Mimi on 1-24-2008 at 7:12 am

11. In Maine, Hannaford (a grocery store chain) has a new alcohol policy– if you look to be 45 or under and are purchasing alcohol, you are carded. How crazy is that?

    posted by Kate on 1-24-2008 at 7:13 am

12. My favorite dollar store is Dollar Tree. Best item found so far was a Noah’s Ark action figure set. My husband needed “hippy” figures for a game he was putting together for my brother’s Christmas present.

    posted by gwendy on 1-24-2008 at 7:16 am

13. Here in Fredneck, there’s a 66 cent store. Their slogan is: “We’re turning the 99 cent world upside down”. A veritable treasure trove of hilarious products.

    posted by Dave on 1-24-2008 at 7:18 am

14. What kind of alcohol can be bought for $0.99?

    posted by Soph on 1-24-2008 at 7:38 am

15. Dave–

    Is this Fredneck you speak of the one and only FRNX, Maryland?
    If so I must know where the 66 cent store is.

    posted by Lauren on 1-24-2008 at 7:40 am

16. Wow, I forget not everyone knows what the PBR is. I grew up in a town where our biggest tourist attraction is a rodeo (Google XIT Rodeo and Reunion in Dalhart, TX–give it up for the world’s largest free BBQ). Now I live in San Antonio, where we also have a huge rodeo.

    posted by nutmeag on 1-24-2008 at 7:50 am

17. In my neck of the woods (southern Indiana) we have a little store (well, actually a large chain of stores) called The Dollar Tree. Their slogan is “Everything’s a dollar”,
    and it’s quite true.

    posted by Kami on 1-24-2008 at 7:53 am

18. We have Dollar Tree in New Hampshire too. The best thing I ever found in there was this ninja action figure that looked like it was just a repaint of a Richard Nixon presidential action figure. The face looked just like him. Not buying Ninja Nixon while he was available is still the greatest mistake I have ever made.

    posted by Christian on 1-24-2008 at 8:03 am

19. nutmeag,

    Do you speak of Pabst Blue Ribbon?

    posted by Jake Le Master on 1-24-2008 at 8:06 am

20. Jake:
    No, Professional Bull Riding. David said in the article that he had never heard of it before.

    I do know of Pabst, though. I work down the street from one of its distribution centers. :-)

    posted by nutmeag on 1-24-2008 at 8:15 am

21. Back when I was living in South Bay Area there were no 99¢ stores, but we did have $1.25, $2,25 and $10.00 stores…guess they know everyone out is loaded…

    posted by Insolent Minx on 1-24-2008 at 8:19 am

22. Jake,
    PBR stands for Professional Bull Riders… And when I lived in Florida I had a friend who always called it the Palm Beach Rodeo.

    As a fan of PBR beer, it makes me chuckle.

    posted by Emily on 1-24-2008 at 8:23 am

23. Yes, the 99 cent only stores sell alcohol, mostly wine in a box. Though a while back they did sell this beer called “Brewski”. It was actually brewed by a reputable company if I remember correctly, and it was pretty good to boot, besides it was $0.99 a six-pack so we didn’t complain.

    posted by ArtF on 1-24-2008 at 8:23 am

24. My sister had a very smart idea regarding 99 cent stores. She’ll take her kids to these stores and will buy a few birthday presents for my wife and I. It’s a cheap way to let them come up with ideas on birthdays for us.

    posted by Scott from Cincy on 1-24-2008 at 8:28 am

25. In my home state of Louisiana, we don’t have the “official” 99 cent stores, but we do have plenty of Under a Buck stores. One of my most recent finds included a “Monster Be Gone” kit. It came with a video (staring Mandy Moore) that told me everything I need to know about monsters under my bed and in my closet (FYI, turns out they don’t really exsist) and it came with official monster be gone spray! As well as a “No Monsters Allowed” doorknob hanger. To cool for words in my humble lame opinion. Another FYI, that spray really works, and is also a dessert topping and a floor wax! Yum! and look at that shine!

    posted by Jeremy on 1-24-2008 at 8:56 am

26. Some of the dollar stores are used for test marketing new products, and can provide some great deals. I don’t tend to frequent the places, but have heard that P&G (and others) will regularly place new stuff there to see how it fares; if it does well it goes on to the regular retail chain at normal prices.

    posted by Dave on 1-24-2008 at 8:59 am

27. We have Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Deal$, where I actually found the Mental_Floss game for $5!

    posted by kitsana_d on 1-24-2008 at 9:01 am

28. We have Dollar Tree is Savannah, GA as well. My wife is a huge fan. Everything truly is $1, but she and my mom went in once and spent $85.

    I always thought PBR meant that the rodeo was sponsored by Pabst. Seemed like a good fit.

    posted by Bo on 1-24-2008 at 9:09 am

29. To #11 Kate, I won’t shop at a store that cards me. I’m old enough and look old enough so that NOBODY could think I’m under 21. If they are going to be that stupid, then they aren’t smart enough for my business.

    posted by Moon on 1-24-2008 at 9:10 am

30. Ooooh, the Dollar Store near me had satin pillow cases (with a zipper – a KEY enhancement) for $1. I bought them out.

    There’s nothing like satin to rest your weary face against, plus, with the zipper, the pillow case isn’t always falling off!

    posted by Moon on 1-24-2008 at 9:13 am

31. Sure, we’ve got the 99cents store here in Houston. My sister GROCERY SHOPS there. She says the only thing is that they never stock the same thing twice. So if she gets a gallon of delicious chocolate soymilk for ninety-nine cents one week, the next week it may be replaced by outdated plums or pink rubber gloves.

    My favorite buy there was a VHS of ‘A Kid in Aladdin’s Palace’, of which they must have had hundreds. It was apparently a sequel to ‘A Kid in King Arthur’s Court’ that never made it. Please find it and watch it. It is a masterpiece.

    My favorite gift from there is one I got for Hanukkah this past year: a ‘puppeteer’ kit, which consists of a purple pipecleaner spider, string, and several googly eyes. Yessssss.

    posted by Sarah on 1-24-2008 at 9:35 am

32. We have the aforementioned Dollar Tree and Deal$ here in the Bluegrass, as well as some independent places. One, called Dollar Zone, used to be a lot of fun but lately has started selling “Premium Items” that are $5 or $10. Still, though, my wife and I try to make the rounds at least once a month since you never know what you’ll find. And, to follow up on Dan’s comment, I’ve always gotten a chuckle out of the $1 pregnancy tests – which are (ironically or conveniently?) located beside the $1 box of condoms. Hey, throw in a box of wine and a satin pillowcase and you’ve got yourself a date night for under three bucks!

    My most recent acquisition is a CD of the London Symphony playing all of Holst’s Planets. Sweet! (Suite?)

    posted by Roger on 1-24-2008 at 9:37 am

33. I have become addicted to the Dollar Tree near my office. On a whim I bought my husband a pair of socks there and he LOVED them (more than the $5 pair I had previously gotten at the dept. store); so I went back and bought up as many as I could.

    I would love to see at 66 cent store!

    posted by beth on 1-24-2008 at 9:41 am

34. We’ve got a Dollar Tree here in Idaho too, not bad.

    We also have a store that used to be called Honks dollar store. Then it was Honks 99 cents store, and then Honks 1.05 store. Its kind of annoying.

    posted by Tyler on 1-24-2008 at 9:46 am

35. I picked up Danny Bonaduce’s autobiography at the dollar store – a zesty read. Then I gave it to my brother for Christmas (don’t worry – I got him other stuff, too).

    posted by Eric on 1-24-2008 at 9:57 am

36. My friends and I do a dollar store Secret Santa for the holidays. Each gift must be $1, and the person who gives the most random gift wins a spectacular dollar store prize.

    Past hilarious items have included: warm potato salad, a bag of wooden sticks, a Muslim Barbie folder, a creepy ram’s head nightlight, a decorative hanging tile with a picture of an old woman sitting on a toilet, a box of condoms (do $1 condoms even work?), and many strange childrens’ toys such as the Noah’s Ark play kit and gooey spaghetti with gooey fake roaches.

    If dollar stores in NJ sold alcohol, my weekends would probably be much crazier.

    posted by Cheryl on 1-24-2008 at 10:02 am

37. In my old neighborhood (in Manhattan, where everything costs a lot more than a buck!) there was a 99-cent store that sold pretty much everything (groceries, electronics, toys, paper goods, etc.). It wasn’t a chain, I don’t even know if it had a name; the locals just called it “the 99-cent store.” It was a good place to go for party supplies and plastic dishes, but they also sold a lot of discontinued candy, which I thought was kind of weird. Best find: my former roommate once found a bag full of little plastic babies, maybe 3 inches long each, so she bought it and put them around the apartment before a birthday party we hosted. They were really scary-looking babies.

    posted by fshk on 1-24-2008 at 10:03 am

38. Emily and nutmeag,

    Haha, ok that makes sense after rereading the original comment.

    PBR’s (the beer) cost 99 cents here in Athens, GA, so it sort of related to this article and threw me off. :)

    posted by Jake Le Master on 1-24-2008 at 10:04 am

39. I live in South Carolina and EVERYBODY is carded. Unless you have a walker and blue hair you have to present I.D. But hey at least I live in Charleston county, it’s the only county where you can buy alcohol on Sundays in the state.

    I love the dollar general. It’s a great place to buy cleaning products and toilet paper.

    posted by stephw on 1-24-2008 at 10:13 am

40. This would be an excellent topic for your photo submission posts!

    Here’s a dollar store game for a large (15-20) group of people. It would be fun for a youth group or something similar:

    Divide into two teams and go to the dollar store. Everyone should pick out an object. Don’t give them any parameters for the object. When you’re done at the dollar store and return to wherever your group is meeting, give each team a length of duct tape. See who can build the tallest free-standing tower out of their objects. Results in pretty funny art. :)

    Yay dollar stores!

    posted by kate on 1-24-2008 at 10:24 am

41. hehehehehhehe lol this was funny

    posted by Rachel on 1-24-2008 at 10:24 am

42. Reading the comments today I kept seeing the PBR and thinking…..Peanut Butter and What? Sorry, no rodeos here in NY.

    posted by Owen on 1-24-2008 at 10:26 am

43. I’d like to take this moment to state that I have never been carded.

    Not even on my 21 birthday. And we’re talking martinis at a nice, upscale, jazz club here, not some dodgy dive bar that regularly serves minors.

    Apparently I look old. *cries* XP XD

    posted by Ashley on 1-24-2008 at 10:26 am

44. My favorite thing to do when in the local Dollar Store, is to keep asking the clerk how much things cost, with a very serious face. After the fifth time or so, you get either amusement or anger. Either way, it is pretty funny.

    posted by Don on 1-24-2008 at 10:28 am

45. There’s a dollar store near my house called About A Buck. A more appropriate name would have been Exactly A Buck…

    posted by Molly on 1-24-2008 at 10:32 am

46. It’s called the “Dollar Store” in Oregon. The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in one definitely has to be a pregnancy test. Seriously suspect.

    posted by Jennie on 1-24-2008 at 10:37 am

47. You know, I’m also a fan of the Wal-Mart game. Each team has 15 minutes to go around the store and find 20 different items (any item). Then, you return to a pre-appointed meeting place and swap carts that are full of the items. Your team then has 30 minutes to put back all of the items from the other cart where they came from. Whoever finishes first (or has the least items left over)wins. There’s really no accountability for putting them back in the right place, so you kind of have to trust the people playing. :)

    For those who don’t like Wal-Mart, it would really work in any store. It just seems like you can get away with things more readily in Wal-Mart though.

    You know, “Games to Play in Retail Centers” would be an interesting post.

    posted by kate on 1-24-2008 at 10:43 am

48. This makes me sad that I haven’t been in a dollar store in years. And there is one I pass every day to and from work. I used to frequent them for my neice and nephews xmas gifts. And for party favors.

    Now I’m going to have to stop there tonight on my way home just to see what they have.

    Now how to convince my husband (who I car pool with) that we need to stop…

    Now to find great discontinued items I like Big Lots

    posted by Beth on 1-24-2008 at 10:44 am

49. My little sister’s 19th birthday was just about a month ago, and my present to her was a large box of dollar store goodies.

    (she claims that was the best present she’s gotten in years, I’ll try to suspend my disbelief)

    Among her favs were congratulatory ribbons (“I can count to 10″ and “most improved” to be specific), candy necklaces and squirt guns. Dollar stores are so much fun.

    posted by Maeve on 1-24-2008 at 10:46 am

50. To #29 Moon – Take it as a compliment. Really. I was carded all thru my 20s and hated it too. Then when I hit my 30′s I was thrilled when I was carded. Last carded at 37. I’m now 44 (although I’m told I only look 32 or so) and would LOVE to be carded. A time will come when you’ll wish you didn’t look your age and you’ll wish for that question “Can I see your ID?”

    posted by Fran on 1-24-2008 at 10:48 am

51. Like many, we have Dollar Stores.

    The most random thing I can remember picking up was “Barbie Headed Whistle Torches”

    It was a Barbie’s head on a spring attached to a tube that lit up (with a battery) that had a whistle on the opposite end from the Barbie head.

    FRED

    posted by Fred on 1-24-2008 at 10:48 am

52. A few years ago, I saw a #10 can of Country Chicken Gravy (6.56 lbs.) for $1.00 … Gotta love the dollar store.

    {^_^}

    posted by BuffCat on 1-24-2008 at 11:04 am

53. I think the carding everyone who looks 30 or younger thing will happen to me for a long time.

    I get carded almost every time I go to see a R rated movie. You only need to be 17 and I am 27! My little sister who is 18 can buy a ticket right before me and they don’t card her. I also get carded to buy lottery tickets, and of course alcohol. When I buy alcohol they give me funny looks like they think my ID is fake.

    posted by Sara on 1-24-2008 at 11:10 am

54. Hey, I wouldn’t eat anything out of those stores…you hear horror stories about where this stuff comes from and how contaminated it is…

    posted by Jim on 1-24-2008 at 11:18 am

55. I like the .99 stores

    posted by qt314159265 on 1-24-2008 at 11:24 am

56. I like the .99 stores for stuff like greeting cards and giftwrap. But a lot of the craptastic stuff is imports and with the lead paint scares and the contaminated health and beauty aids and counterfeit stuff, I avoid any food/ food containers, dishes, and or skin care / grooming products. I have seen the kinds of places thay they get this stuff from, and it aint pretty. To me it’s not worth the savings.

    posted by qt314159265 on 1-24-2008 at 11:27 am

57. We used to have a Big Lots in my town in NC, and we thought we’d check it out one day, maybe stimulate the local economy. We found full Pepsi cans with no pull-tabs on top – how you open them, nobody knows. My favorite, though, were these boxes of cereal. We couldn’t tell what kind it was because the words on the box were in Arabic. On the back, the maze game included dead-ends where it showed a bloody sword and a severed hand – supposedly the player is a thief trying to escape the local market. That should make for good breakfast table conversation.

    posted by BA on 1-24-2008 at 11:42 am

58. I LOVE .99 stores (Big Lots, Dollar General, whatever)…I don’t buy much from them but I’m fascinated with what they stock and how they advertise it…some stores are clean and offer nice merchandise, others are messy and I would never set foot in there again…it seems here in Texas a lot of the small towns have a Dollar General where a WalMart hasn’t gone in just yet…although, at Dollar General, things are priced for MORE than a dollar…my broom cost 5.99, which is a LOT of dollars…heh…

    posted by donner on 1-24-2008 at 11:52 am

59. We have dollar stores all over the place. The one near my office sells Mike and Ikes in the movie theater sized boxes.

    posted by Hannah on 1-24-2008 at 12:01 pm

60. @stephw:
    Greenville county has had Sunday sales for a while and I think there might be a couple more counties that have adopted it. I’m just mad that I moved from Charleston before the bar smoking ban.

    Interesting story. I used to live in Charleston and my friend lives just on the edge of Berkley county. So if he wanted Sunday beer, it was just a quick drive down the road to a convenience store just inside the Chas county line.

    posted by Ryan on 1-24-2008 at 12:04 pm

61. I love Dollar Tree! I once saw a DVD titled “The Best of the Betty White Comedy Hour” or something to that effect. I also once bought a clear plastic figurine in the shape of a human body that you could view (and open to take out!) various internal organs. I got that for a gag gift exchange my family did one year, and my cousin that lives in Australia ended up with that. I wonder if she got any questions at the security checkpoint about that one…

    posted by Krie on 1-24-2008 at 12:23 pm

62. Growing up, my family took a lot of road trips and me and my two younger sisters would always beg to stop at every dollar store we saw. Driving through Texas for a week we probably stopped at at least 15 different dollar stores (sometimes multiples ones in the same town.) I would usually buy pens, pencils, paper, and candy but I don’t really remember buying too many weird items. Once I bought a jumbo eraser though – it was probably about 5″ x 2″ x 1″.

    posted by Elaine on 1-24-2008 at 12:24 pm

63. Dollar store pregnancy tests should be accurate as long as they haven’t expired. In fact, I find checking the expiration date on any thing I buy at a dollar store as a good rule of thumb.

    My 43 year old friend tried to blame her two positive pregnancy readings on the fact that the tests came from the dollar store. She’ll be 61 and when her last little chick is old enough to leave the roost. Obviously the dollar store condoms aren’t as reliable as the pregnancy tests.

    posted by bzzyb on 1-24-2008 at 12:53 pm

64. In my area we have a Dollar Tree. My friends and I go in there to buy the grab bags…in the last one I purchased, I got a roll of tin foil and an unwrapped Christmas bow. It’s a special time.

    posted by Laura on 1-24-2008 at 1:03 pm

65. Like Tyler in Idaho, I (in Idaho) also have a Dollar Tree and Honk’s $1.05 store. I’m hoping that just includes the 6% tax and is therefore the most absolutely honest store name. There’s also Family Dollar, a store in which nothing costs a dollar but “lots of dollars.”

    My favorite dollar store finds are the plastic dissectable frog (my 10 year old loved that in his stocking last year) and a pair of those weird googly eye glasses with the Harry Potter rims my friend bought. The warning on the package said
    “DARING – DO NOT FEAR OF MY EYES”

    I have to buy some just to pin the packaging on my bulletin board for a cheap chuckle.

    posted by aTribe on 1-24-2008 at 1:09 pm

66. The absolute best thing I found at a Dollar Tree a couple of Christmas’ ago was a DVD of some Spanish movie (poorly dubbed I might add) in which Santa fights Martian aliens with the help of little children from all around the world in race-stereotypical costumes. It was in black and white but you could still see Santa’s wicked tan. The special effects were typical of the 50′s. It was truly awesome.

    posted by Groovygaia on 1-24-2008 at 1:10 pm

67. this Christmas my aunt did Christmas Bingo and all the prizes were crazy dollar store things. The best was a clear plastic frog that you could take the organs out of. it was just called “FROG”.

    posted by Emily on 1-24-2008 at 1:12 pm

68. The Dollar Tree is the most amazing store in the world. I could easily spend hours there. Plus, here in Oregon, no tax. Everything really IS only a dollar. So my friends and I always go there to get candy and pop, greeting cards, etc. But you can also find baby supplies and weird food. It’s a also a popular location to find weird gifts, like the pirate gear I got my friend, and a hat that looked like a monkey head.

    posted by Amanda on 1-24-2008 at 2:24 pm

69. Hey
    Nutmeag may have seen this in San Antonio, they have a store called Texas Thrift and Dollar Only, which is a very large dollar store, but they have a huge sign out front saying “Everything 50% off” (its always been there) so wouldnt that be the fifty cent store

    very odd

    posted by Lindsey U on 1-24-2008 at 2:55 pm

70. I really want to know what alcohol they’re selling for $0.99.

    posted by june on 1-24-2008 at 3:41 pm

71. I have the best dollar store name (Cincinnati, Ohio): The 99 Center. As in, 99 cents? Center? Get it?

    posted by Erica on 1-24-2008 at 4:10 pm

72. Guys! These are in a class of their own! Keep ‘em coming!

    Bev M: there are two YOURs in the sign. May I suggest a pair of glasses like our friend is sporting in the Du-Rag Tiger? (he he)

    posted by David on 1-24-2008 at 6:09 pm

73. My mom purchased a pair of Yogi Bear socks for me this at the Dollar Store. Printed on the socks, it reads “Kiss My Yugi Bear”. Hilarious.

    posted by Lindsey on 1-24-2008 at 6:15 pm

74. dude, you have no idea. i document this stuff on the regular. my whole blog is devoted to it.

    99sense.blogspot.com

    posted by kangsta on 1-24-2008 at 6:36 pm

75. The five-stick pack of gum that costs 5c? I got a five-pack of Doublemint the other day at a local dollar store, pulled out $1.06 to pay for it. The cashier waved away the six cents.

    “Everything non-taxable here at the Dollar Store is a buck; everything taxable is 94x plus 6c sales tax,” the cashier explained.

    Sounds great to me. Only thing is, if I owned the store, it’d be called “Ninety-four Cent Tree”. It’s not that people mind the COST paying the sales tax, but they hate the HASSLE.

    Tom Corbett, the PA Attorney General, wants stores that sell tobacco to card under-30s. The signs I see all say that you must be 30 or have ID. Seems like someone who is 20 could simply say, “I’m 31, so by your own rules, I don’t need to show proof of age.”

    My wife, age 54, got carded last year in a restaurant. She was thrilled!

    posted by Paul Ding on 1-24-2008 at 7:48 pm

76. Inspired by this thread, I went to the Dollar store today. They had these really nice stacking metal shelves. There wasn’t any price on them (some things cost more than $1 in THIS Dollar Store – go figure!). They were kind of sitting in the aisle.

    I took them to the counter and she rang them up $1 apiece – I bought 6 of them. Only later did I think that I MAY have purchased shelving that they were going to use in the store! Hahahaha! They are really sweet and I don’t see how they could cost $1. These are about $15 in the Bed Bath & Beyond.

    posted by Moon on 1-24-2008 at 8:01 pm

77. There was an old show on Fox Family (I think) called the Jellabies. It was a cartoon or something. They had a little yellow doll from the show that had a button, and when pressed sang the theme song.

    Another time I saw a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Game, but made out of chocolate.

    posted by Reggie on 1-24-2008 at 8:51 pm

78. In my area there is a Family Dollar and a Dollar General. I love ‘em, but I always end up getting stuff I really don’t need. Go in for sponges and come out with sponges, earbuds, Fantastic Bubblastic Plastic, Kool-Aid gelatin, 12 pack of Strawberry Fanta, one of those bandages you use for sprains, mouse traps, and a miniature Doctor Doom action figure (I never realized how severely lacking in teeny tiny figures of fictional dictators my bedroom was until I saw a lone Doom among about a zillion Spider-Man figures in the toy aisle).

    posted by S on 1-24-2008 at 9:49 pm

79. You may have Dollar General, you may have Dollar Tree, you may even have Big Lots…but you don’t have Wu Mart (open to the public).

    Wu Mart is what all Dollar Stores want to be when they grow up. You can buy furniture at Wu Mart. You can buy 36 argyle socks for $3.99, or a pashmina for $4.99. You can buy a “Benign Girl” toy cellphone, and toys from Korea that show people on toilets making what I can only are presume are hilarious Korean farting noises. You can buy windbreakers, 2 for $4 (if you are size XXS). You can buy the world’s largest drill bits (seriously, my dad had a fit when he saw them — in his work as a mechanical engineer, they had to custom-order drill bits that size, and here they were, sitting on a shelf by the gross, at Wu Mart).

    I used to keep my child in line by telling her that if she didn’t behave, I was buying her school wardrobe from Wu
    Mart.

    It is a magical place.

    posted by Wednesday on 1-24-2008 at 9:57 pm

80. David,
    I stand corrected! Good thing I have an optometrist appointment coming up!
    :-)

    posted by Bev M. on 1-25-2008 at 11:33 am

81. i got one of those clear human bodies with the organs too. and a giant eraser.

    this post inspired me to take a walk through a nearby dollar store. i found gummie pizzas and cookies (build and decorate them yourself) and marshmallow french fries with sour “Kandy Ketchup”. i had to pick up the Mallow Fries because they were too cool. haven’t tried them yet…

    cleaning products are usually the best buys at stores like these.

    posted by the creature on 1-25-2008 at 12:07 pm

82. I live in Japan and here we have the hyaku (100) yen store, which equates to about a buck. I dare say the craziest thing I can get there is a tasty bag of dried squid.

    posted by Heather on 1-26-2008 at 6:13 am

83. As to the liqour policy: Tennessee has solved the problem of underage drinking; indignant 25 year olds getting carded; and making us oldsters feel like high schoolers again: the new state law says EVERYONE must be carded.

    posted by Zane on 1-28-2008 at 3:16 pm

84. The dollar store is the greatest place for Kwanzaa Claus figurines or any African American figurines…I get a new Kwanzaa Claus every year =)

    posted by AshleyLynn on 1-28-2008 at 8:21 pm

85. What kind of crappy liquor could you get for $.99? No thank you!

    posted by Kristin on 1-30-2008 at 10:08 am

86. #83 Heather – I WISH I could find a bag of cuttlefish (dried squid) for a buck! It is so tasty & delicious. Kind of like fish jerky.

    Speaking of liquor at dollar stores, the 99Cent store by my house was selling wine in a bottle that was shaped like a big fish – scales & all. I’ll try lots of strange stuff, but there is no way I could bring myself to try it.

    posted by MrsHashBrown on 1-30-2008 at 12:26 pm

87. In Britain we have Poundland (which equates to about 2 dollars at the current rate of exchange). I love the wierd combination of the incredibly useful – low energy lightbulbs, for example – and the utterly bizarre, like peel off nailvarnish!

    posted by Helen on 1-30-2008 at 12:28 pm

88. We got a Dollar Tree here in Laramie, I usually get Cadbury bars and Werther’s candy.. nom nom

    But, the worst gift I got for a friend from a Dollar store was the ‘Blankman’ CD soundtrack. He still gives me grief over it. (I think it’s because he paid money to see it in the theatre when it came out.)

    posted by R. on 1-30-2008 at 12:42 pm

89. When California was on fire this last year, we bought out all the white towels from 4 different local $.99 stores. My husband works for a company that has a shower truck so that the firemen can go to bed clean. We ran out of the paper towels and had to do something quick. The $.99 stores came to the rescue. Of course, then I had to do tons of laundry to keep up!

    posted by Ramona on 1-30-2008 at 2:44 pm

90. I think that I shall never see
    a thing as lovely as Dollar Tree.
    For all that I could seek to find
    and things that never come to mind,
    Are all on sale – awaiting me,
    On shelves, in bins – at Dollar Tree.

    DebyS
    Athens, GA

    posted by DebyS on 1-30-2008 at 4:59 pm

91. Here in Missouri, we have Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Big Lots….of course, the only one where anything is actually a dollar is Dollar Tree.
    I love them. You can buy all sorts of things (cooking utensils, notepads, etc) for a dollar, and as discussed, all sorts of wacky things. I’m going to have to check them out again!
    I just avoid buying food products there. Some is all right, especially at the non-dollar stores, but I’m suspicious of the rest. And clothing is another thing to be suspicious of…some of the bras I’ve seen don’t look like they’re suitable for wearing at all!

    posted by Kate on 1-30-2008 at 5:23 pm

92. I could search for a million years and never find anything as the velcro-goitered grandpa finger puppet.

    You made my day, Number 6.

    posted by maggie van ostrand on 1-31-2008 at 12:59 am

93. the strangest thing i’ve ever seen at a 99 cents store is condoms. TOTALLY NOT KIDDING. and hemmoroid cream. Seriously, aren’t those things worth investing a little more cash in?

    posted by Lulu on 1-31-2008 at 3:52 am

94. At the Buck or Two in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, they had a whole shelf full of paperweights from various companies, like hotels from Florida. They even had one from a Holiday Inn or something from the United Arab Emirates with oil inside of it.

    posted by Meg on 1-31-2008 at 7:47 am

95. DebyS –
    I love it! Frost, right?
    I have a love/hate relationship with the dollar store. Sometimes I go in and I can’t find anything! It’s all crap. I decide I’m never going back, and three months later I need a birthday card and wrap, I go in and walk out with $60 worth of stuff…It’s very hit and miss at our local dollar store.

    posted by StaceyG on 1-31-2008 at 8:41 am

96. I buy things from the $.99 in Abilene, Tx. They are great when it comes to snacks. I used to buy instant Quaker Oats packets from Walmart, but 99 sells another brand called Mom’s Best. There are 10 packets in the Walmart brand for $1.50 and only 8 packets for $.99 at 99. However, the total quanity of oatmeal in the Moms brand is greater. There is a store in the Houston area that is even better than 99 call ‘Only $.99 Store’.

    posted by Bill on 2-3-2008 at 5:12 pm

97. on the 99cent stores…

    when I lived in a small town with horrid bus service and I didn’t have a car, I swore by the Dollar General down the block from my house. No, nothing was really a dollar, but they had EVERYTHING. I was super broke at the time so yep, I did some grocery shopping at times, but mostly brand name stuff.

    As far as the carding thing goes… I’ve worked in my fair share of restaraunts and the rule for PA is technically, it doesn’t matter if you’re 103, you must be able to provide proof of age on request in order to drink. It is, however, at the server’s discretion to card. Most businesses have some sort of policy in regards to a general age to card or just card everyone.

    Me, I’ve found that with most places, if you walk in like you belong there, know what you want, (or in my case, can have a long discussion with the bartender about your fav. import) you’re golden. Nobody thinks a 17 year old is that well mannered or knowledgeable. I’m not 17 anymore, but it has served me well over the years.

    posted by Sarah on 2-4-2008 at 3:01 pm

98. in England saw a store called
    “Around a Pound”
    not exactly a dollar, but same idea…

    posted by rich on 2-5-2008 at 9:51 pm

99. We have a dollar tree. My daughter and I like to purchase 10-15 silver milar baloons and tape them in a circle and release them knowing some “UFO” watcher will be very excited about what he thinks he sees. We only did this 1 time, had to remember, milar bad for environment, animals, etc….. But it did look very neat that 1 time.

    posted by John Brown on 2-9-2008 at 12:25 pm

100. my favorite dollar store buys…
     paper pirate costume
     false teeth
     a children’s book called Timothy Tunny Swallowed a Bunny
     plastic neon recorder
     a hot glue gun that is a little dangerous when used
     and my all time favorite… balancing angles… which were angel figurines that balanced a point and spun around… strange enough… but they were definitely marketed as ANGLES

     posted by Katie on 2-9-2008 at 7:52 pm

101. price check on aisle five please!!

     posted by Al Ingersoll on 2-24-2008 at 6:35 pm

102. HAHAHA I could not stop laughing. I’m at work and they all think I’m a little out of it. Oh and those N’Sync buttons are going to pay off big time!

     posted by pamela on 4-24-2008 at 7:02 pm

103. i worked at a dollar store while in high school and one day a woman came in and bought EVERY jar of vaseline. she spent something like $58

     posted by katherine on 5-18-2008 at 6:33 pm

104. ummm, what kind of alcohol am i receiving for 99 cents???

     posted by Kaitlyn on 11-7-2008 at 1:17 pm

105. here in nevada it’s “if you look under 40 then have your ID ready….including tobacco and alcohol…. i understand why there are so many 40 year olds that look like the are 20 due to all that plastic surgery, or good genes…..

     posted by annette on 5-19-2009 at 12:00 pm

106. We have a Dollar Tree in Greenville, Al.
     We have a Dollar General, too. I’ve found some Kotex and Always selling for $7 dollars, which is odd, because their slogan is “Everything $1!”

     posted by Sara in AL on 8-20-2009 at 4:09 pm

107. I got the $5 Mental Floss game too!

     Best.
     Purchase.
     Ever.

     posted by Tiffany on 8-21-2009 at 9:27 am

108. We used to have a Dollar Tree here in NY, but it shut down because of a Dollar General built right next to it. I loved that Dollar Tree, I used to buy all my mom’s birthday presents there when I was 10. It was also great for my little sisters. Just buy them some plastic barely clothed doll, and they’re happy. Of course, it breaks in a couple days, but who cares.

     posted by Carly on 8-22-2009 at 1:10 pm

109. I live in KY (very near Cincinnati) and we 99 Center, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar. I love them all. I think that the 99 Center by far has the most interesting selection, but Dollar General has all those nifty infomercial gadgets that I just can’t get enough of!

     posted by Megan on 8-22-2009 at 5:40 pm

110. Oh and I forgot to mention that I work in a restaurant where company policy is to card EVERYONE. Some people get really pissed and others love it.

     posted by Megan on 8-22-2009 at 5:42 pm

111. Here in Saskatchewan(that’s in Canada btw) we have “dollorama”

     posted by rose on 2-19-2010 at 4:38 pm

112. In Oceanside,CA there was a dollar store that got shut down for sell crackpipes and porn. What kind of porn can you get for $1?

     posted by punkrockave on 4-17-2010 at 5:15 am

113. At the Dollar Tree in Rome, NY, I found a curious item – a plastic placemat with pictures of the all the Prime Ministers of Canada through 2003, including mini-biographies in both French and English! Of course I bought it.

     posted by breen on 5-1-2010 at 3:34 am

114. These are awesome found you via stumble ha

     posted by The Padrino on 7-26-2010 at 5:32 am

115. This article makes me sad the 99cents store was the best kept secret out there . everything from brake fluid to trail mix , hillshirefarms smoked sausage to computer cables. Recently some item pks have been down sized but still the best deal in town

     posted by charles849 on 8-6-2010 at 7:58 pm

116. My favorite buy is a concrete gargoyle he’s watching me now.Holloween is the best time to shop

     posted by charles849 on 8-6-2010 at 8:04 pm

117. Here in Canada we have an amazing chain called Dollarama. They carry some cool stuff, and it’s usually reasonably good quality…my boyfriend and I bought a new house and we had nothing to put in it, so we spend almost $300 at Dollarama and now we have all the kitchen items, decorations, etc. we could possibly need!

     posted by Angie on 8-12-2010 at 12:44 pm

118. For the sign, it’s because if you look 28 or so, you might still be 21.

     posted by Donald Chappell on 1-9-2011 at 2:05 pm

119. Inspired by this thread, I went to the Dollar store today. They had these really nice stacking metal shelves. There wasn’t any price on them (some things cost more than $1 in THIS Dollar Store – go figure!). They were kind of sitting in the aisle.

     posted by fajas colombianas on 1-14-2011 at 11:27 am

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