This Dollarama is a free standing store at the eastern edge of Hintonburg, just west of Little…read moreItaly and Chinatown. It's fairly large and well organized. I usually prefer Dollar Tree over Dollarama for just poking around, as the former tends to have more interesting things to me. However, if you are looking for something in particular, it's more likely that Dollarama will have it and they will have more selection. My husband and I were walking home from a few food festivals when it started to rain. We were just approaching the Dollarama and I suggested we go in to buy some umbrellas. They had a relatively large selection for $3.50 each. My husband does not like umbrellas and prefers to wear a rain poncho. He got a thin clear one for $1.25. The poncho was essentially a glorified garbage bag, lol, but I was impressed with my $3.50 umbrella. I mean it does not look nor feel sturdy, but it got me home dry, more or less, lol. It did flip upside down in the wind once, but did not break. It was good for an emergency purchase and it's good to have cheap umbrellas that you don't care if you lose or can loan out to people and not care too much if they forget to return it. Service was good. There was no lineup and the cashier was doing something else, but as soon as she saw us approach the cash, she came over. This location has free parking in their private parking lot at the side of the store.

Located close to Chinatown / Little Italy.... This location of Dollarama is kept very clean and…read moreorganized. On all the occasions that I have been there, there were always at least two cashiers on duty, and they seem very diligent about getting the other cash registers open when there's a lineup. The selection is fairly standard and in sync with other Dollarama locations. I would just highlight that this particular location seems to have a better than average selection of bottled beverages, plus their selection of wholesale/discounted children's toys seem pretty good too!

Well, isn't this place just awesome! They've been here for... only forever! I've been shopping…read moreherefor over 15 years. One of my favourite items from this store are their little cookie presses, which are made by local artists, and offered in many, many different designs. They even come with an easy and tasty butter cookie recipe in English or French. I've got dozens of them - they're great, and only $2.50 a piece. I make these cookies all year, using different themed presses, depending on which holiday is coming up. Read: RECOMMEND. The store looks deceivingly small from the street, but it's a deeper store than it looks from outside. They sell arts and crafts made locally, some Indian art, and touristy types of things - the perfect gift for visitors to this fair city, and for the locals. They have offered colourful silk scarves, Dream Catchers, slippers, mitts, hats, paper gifts, wood carvings, and much much more. The place is eye candy! Ok, go shopping now, and then go bake! :-)

Midori Gifts recently opened up a location in Ottawa. They also have a location in Kingston,…read moreOntario. It's a cute store that sells kawaii type stuff ;) I love all their adorable stationary items (a pen with a dangling mangosteen, how cute is that?). They have lots of stuffed animals, keychains, and Bento box style lunch containers. I think my nieces would love it here. I'll have to bring them sometime, or tell their parents to bring them, lol. Staff leave you alone to browse, which I don't mind at all. Street parking only.

Came by this interesting store on Bank St today! It's an Asian inspired stationary + toy + kitchen…read morestore. I think this might Midori Gifts from Kingston as they have the same logo https://midorigifts.com/. When you walk in, you're welcome with a bunch of Pokemon stuffies on the left and a bunch of stationary on the right. As you go deeper into the store, there's more toys and stationary. When you get to the back of the store there are some kitchen supply items like bento boxes, travel mugs and much more. There's no food or snacks but the other things make up for the loss of Tokyo Store on Elgin street a couple of years back. Come check out the store yourself!

I was looking for an original gift for a 3 y.o. child. Found the newly opened store in Westboro,…read moreand was impressed! The selection of toys is great, lots of wooden toys, organic cotton and linen toys. Brands like Maileg, Moulin Roty, Vilac, Bajo, Haba, Candylab etc are represented and well selected. There are lots of beautiful puzzles and educational games, some books for younger ones. A must visit toy shop in Ottawa. Especially good for getting Christmas and special occasions gifts. 100% recommended.

It's just an average Dollarama with nothing bad or good about it. However the lines are somewhat…read moretight if there's a big line of people. Overall this dollarama didn't seem suspicious or weird to me.

I somehow make it to this Dollarama at least once every week or two. I guess I didn't realize how…read moreoften I visit this store, but for your every day goods, odds, and ends, it's a great place to start. It's in a great location on Elgin, especially for all of the nearby employees at City Hall, Place Bell, and the kids from Lisgar Collegiate. I have found kitchen supplies, office supplies, gift bags, whatever. I've bought decorations for my work party in the past, and it's an quick and easy go-to when you needs those extra napkins and utensils when they run out. Today I found Caramilk and Crunchie chocolate fondue sets for 3 bucks a pop. Isn't that nuts?! Couldn't believe it myself. But my favorite purchase has to be a small bottle of Frank's RedHot for only a dollar twenty-five, which I use allll the time. Like most other stores, it gears up for each holiday and really pulls out all the stops. It currently has an entire section dedicated to Valentine's Day related items, just as it did for Christmas. Cards, decorations, glasses, heart-shaped bowls, lollipops, cookies, and chocolate.. You name it. FYI - No return policy. Prices are cheap, generally $1-3, but still inspect your items before purchasing, and make sure you're buying exactly what you need. Good ban for your buck, and a decent selection. If you can't find what you're looking for here, there's also a nearby two-floored Dollar It! on Bank Street. 7/30 #30DaysOfYelp

5 stars for the sign/font. Funny it's next to a "spa", JADE…read moreSPA. KIDDYTOWN is out of business.

The closed quarters are misleading. Yes, the space is small and yes, the size is emphasized by the…read moreseemingly massive amounts of stock. The area isn't really cluttered like it might seem at first glance, however. Items are organized by type and age range. Needful things for the littlest ones seem to take up the front of the store: Robeez, layette sets and age-appropriate toys. There are things for the bigger kids, too. I've found that all I need to do is ask and I can be shown exactly what I'm looking for. My most recent venture involved a raincoat. The sales associate who helped me was fantastic. She showed me the selection and even offered suggestions in a way that was helpful and without pressure, all while taking into consideration what my preschool age son might like. She even involved him in the process, much to his delight. The prices are reasonable, in some cases even a few dollars less than what you could expect to pay at a bigger store.

I actually love this place. Im a spiritual person, and I love Indigenous artifacts etc. I went into…read morethis store by surprise and I really like the store :) The store has a wide array of artifacts, some a little weird and some very cool. I bought a journal that has its cover made of leaves and a stick. It has a vintage feel, and im going to use this journal and make it into a scrapbook of my adventure. After visiting the other stores in Bymarket Square, I decided to come back to this store again. :) Well worth the visit! Btw the Asian woman at the cashier is very friendly and informative of the products there.

Laras is a cool place just to look at from the outside, so simply imagine what you will find on the…read moreinside. In the window stands a wooden giraffe and other figures, all painted incredibly well. It's a welcoming scene. As you walk in the small, yet cozy shop you will find all sorts of arts and crafts, and some clothing to boot. Incense burns and helps create a nice, soothing atmosphere to walk around in. The store has an exotic feel to it. Masks decorate the walls and the wooden figures range form small little things that will fit in your hands to much bigger, more significant pieces. It isn't a huge store, so stock is limited, but what they do carry is fairly unique for the Ottawa area.

This is the Loblaws in Bells Corners. It's next to Zellers (one of two that are still in existence…read moreafter their massive closures; the other one is in Toronto's Kipling Queensway Mall btw). This Loblaws is medium-sized. It's not as big as the huge ones like the one at College Square, but it's bigger than the small ones like at Carlingwood Mall. This one has less prepared foods, but it does carry some random items that most other Loblaws don't carry, like Mediterra Savoury Protein bars. In fact, their protein bars selection is quite impressive. Their layout is not the best. They have their "discount/clearance/50% off" section on the other side of the cash register. So if you don't know that it's there, you only see it after you have paid for your groceries and are about to leave. So if you see something in the clearance section that you want, you have to go back in line to pay for it :P They really should move it, but I guess that's the only place they have for it (??). Also the aforementioned protein bars are found in 2 separate sections, one in the health food/nutritional supplements section and then they have some in a random "island display" in the middle of the refrigerated and frozen food section. It's in this random display that they have more "exotic" protein bars that I don't see in most grocery stores. Very weird. The prepared foods are also tucked away in scattered places. It took me a while to find the roasted chickens (towards the back of the store in a tiny section). Also one of the first things you see when you enter is the fish section (uh, not the most appealing...) Anyway, I am familiar with the idiosyncrasies of this location, so I like it, but some people may find the layout strange. Lots of free parking in the parking lot.

I've been going to this store for several years now but it's really gone downhill since the…read moreinstallation of "self-service" checkouts, which I refuse to use. Went in to pick up a few groceries after work. When I got to the checkout only two were open and both had long lines. Their express checkout was closed. So I skipped the checkout, left my groceries behind, and went to Sobeys instead. Sobeys had five checkouts open and, with my four items, I was processed through the express quickly. If you've got time on your hands and enjoy standing in the checkout line, this is the store for you. Come on Loblaws, Hire a few more students!