# 99 cent Store is Like Bizzaro Supermarket **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233 "2002-07-03T18:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/1 "2002-07-03T18:38:18Z")
I realize that lots of folks like to shop here and God bless 'em (apologies to Mr. Newdow), but I walk in there and for some reason I feel like I am in some other shopping dimension. I mean they have the detergents and soaps and cereals and lots of the things I find at the regular supermarket. But they are all brand names I have never heard of and the packaging is just slightly off from my expectations. The packaging is similar to more familiar brands, but it is, well different. Like someone screwed of the tint and color and contrast on the packaging. The whole store just seems kinda creepy to me. ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/2 "2002-07-03T19:02:04Z")
Aren’t they, tho? Kinda like a parallel universe. I love them, and can dollar myself to death, there. ;j ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/3 "2002-07-03T21:34:52Z")
I think you’re right about the coloring and tint. I always feel like maybe I’m buying the cans and bottles that were in the front display window for a while. They look a little faded. But again, you can get lots of good stuff. And it’s less than a buck! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/4 "2002-07-04T03:52:14Z")
One word of warning: stay away from the squid and octopus. I’m serious, I have been in many a dollar store where on the shelf were packages of squid and/or octopus…packed in their own ink, no less! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/5 "2002-07-05T04:08:39Z")
Best dollar store find: TIE – box of graham cracker “teddy grahams” rip-offs called “Huggy Bears” (no pimp hats, though.) – Austin Powers “Shagadelic Shakers” Plastic martini shakers filled with mixers (cosmo/long island/margarita) that you added booze to. (When I told a friend about this he got irate and said his wife paid $4 each for them in a regular store. Ugh, they were BARELY worth the $1 I spent on them, lol.) ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/6 "2002-07-05T05:01:08Z")
My fav. discount store in Melbourne is the “NQR - Not Quite Right” chain. They sell the products which have expired or the packaging is incorrect etc. Stuff the manufacturers can sell through your ordinary supermarket. Its great. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/7 "2002-07-05T05:07:23Z")
oops thats meant to read “Can’t sell through your ordinary supermarket” sorry ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/8 "2002-07-05T14:33:26Z")
But would you WANT something that’s expired? ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/9 "2002-07-05T15:27:32Z")
Well, if they had pop that had an “expiration date” of a week before, hell yes, I’d snap up cases of them in a second! Same goes for cereal, etc, which are good for months after the date printed. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/10 "2002-07-05T17:13:26Z")
The town where my parents live just got a Dollar General recently. The grand opening was a really big event for the town. Yeah, I went. I got some HUGE bottles of my favorite shampoo in various scents and a big bag of jawbreakers. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/11 "2002-07-06T00:45:12Z")
They just opened a place a few blocks from our house called “Deals” which has everything for a dollar or X-for-a-dollar. I went in there last Saturday and bought Lipton Rice & Sauce packages at 2/$1.00 - and they had other name brand stuff like Libby’s & Del Monte. I plan on doing a lot more of my shopping there. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/12 "2002-07-06T03:13:13Z")
My favorite purchase was a knock-off of “Fantastik” cleanser. It was called “Fabulous.” I bought a whole bunch of bottles and distributed them to my campier friends, who could really appreciate the convenience of spray-on fabulosity:D ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/13 "2002-07-06T03:37:15Z")
Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg loves Dollar Stores. His ratings of dollar-store finds make me laugh like someone who’s sitting on a cat. My favourite is probably his take on the **Paper Bag Organizer** : > [@](#): > > After several people wrote in to tell me that they do in fact use dental mirrors on themselves – apparently having enough interest in the far reaches of their own mouth crannies to rig up a double-mirror solution – I’m reluctant to declare any commercial item useless. Having said that, this is useless. If you sort your paper bags by size and hang them from the wall on a device too narrow to hold more than five or six of each size, stop it. What you’re doing is wrong. **D** Hah. More dollar-store fun at:[ul] [li][Things From the Dollar Store Pt. I](http://www.brunching.com/ratings/dollarstore.html)[/li][li][Things From the Dollar Store Pt. II](http://www.brunching.com/ratings/dollarstore2.html)[/li][li][Things From the Dollar Store Pt. III](http://www.brunching.com/ratings/dollarstore3.html)[/li][Things From the Dollar Store Pt. IV](http://www.brunching.com/ratings/dollarstore4.html)[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/14 "2002-07-06T03:58:28Z")
It’s fun to stop in those stores. Not just the color and tint, but the smells can be way off. Lotions and soaps you wouldn’t want on your bod. I like the store name “Not Quite Right.” Truth in advertising! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/15 "2002-07-06T05:29:58Z")
I love those places. I used to have a regular Friday-night dinner gig with some friends. We’d eat sushi and drink sake, and then sally forth slightly oiled into the Dollar Tree. “Coathangers! Ice-cube trays! Retractable-chain keyrings! Yoy-yos that don’t work! Plastic misting bottles! Generic peanut butter! More more more!” ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/16 "2002-07-06T11:10:29Z")
I like dollar stores (and their ilk). Around here it’s pretty much Dollar General territory, though a nearby town has recently gotten the superior (that is to say, campier) Dollar Tree. King of campiness, however, was Only Deals (out of business), at which I purchased many horrendous pieces of crap as gag gifts. Still, the Halloween decoration set of a skeleton pirate band from Dollar Tree is still close. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/17 "2002-07-06T15:42:43Z")
I noticed recently they added a symbol to our local store name, so it now says “99+” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/18 "2002-07-06T18:36:57Z")
I like dollar stores. In fact, I shop there on a regular basis for a variety of small sundries that I wouldn´t want to try to find elsewhere - small boxes, assorted cleaning and cooking supplies, etc. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/19 "2002-07-06T18:42:52Z")
I have a five-inch plaster bust of Dwight D. Eisenhower sitting on my computer. I got it at the dollar store. They had a selection of presidents. You’d expect, say, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Washington, right? They had Eisenhower, Truman, and Grant. I had to buy Ike just because it’s so _bizarre_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233/20 "2002-07-07T00:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*I noticed recently they added a symbol to our local store name, so it now says “99+” \*\* here in orlando we have a store called “EVERYTHING FOR A DOLLAR and up” an online friend says she grew up next to a place called “EVERYTHING’S A $1” (read that out loud.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-cent-store-is-like-bizzaro-supermarket/117233.md?page=2)