Dollar stores often don't get much respect, but I find them both useful and fun. Useful in that they have a wide variety of stuff that you need regularly, like greeting cards, shampoo, gift bags, helium balloons and window cleaner...fun in that they also have utterly random items like styrofoam blocks for flower arrangements, dog sweaters, flip-flops, spatulas and jumper cables.
This Dollar Tree is close to home, so I visit it pretty often and while I've had some mixed experiences, I'm still very much a fan.
- merchandise: broad range of items and I can count on them to have cards, balloons, candy, personal care items and cleaning supplies. Frankly, whenever I need balloons for anything, I come to this Dollar Tree - a huge selection of helium balloons that cost a heckuva lot less than at the party stores
- appearance: some times there are bare areas on shelves, but I've found that's usually when they're in the process of re-arranging the stock and/or putting out seasonally appropriate items. I've never had a problem in finding what I needed, and I've never found the store to be dirty...untidy at times, sure, but based on my observations, that's mostly the fault of shoppers, not the staff.
- service: maybe I'm just lucky but it seems like some of the nicest people work here. In my latest visit, the gentleman at the cash register was cheerful, efficient and took the time to carefully bag (and double bag) my purchases so the shampoos couldn't tip/spill and the plastic items wouldn't poke holes in the bag. Heck, that's more than the people at Kroger do (just another reason why I seldom shop at a Kroger).
This Dollar Tree is in a large shopping center, and perhaps that's why it feels a bit smaller than most. There's plenty of parking and the location makes it convenient for bundling errands as it's close to Target, Petco and Kohls, allowing me to hit one shopping center and knock out a lot of my "to-do's". read more