Heartbroken to see this chain store on Ditmars. Astoria used to be a fun place because of all the unique, quirky and homey mom and pop stores. This store replaced the Chinese takeout, Dragon and Phoenix, that used to be here, along with "the Rock" gym and the attached Soho Grill eatery. They're all gone. Now this stretch of retail has Five Below and Panda Express, joining TJ Maxx. It's too depressing for words to see this mall crap taking over Ditmars.
Don't let the bright colors fool you. It's mass produced plastic junk from China, identical to all the other ones in the city. Dollar store items disguised by brand names like Barbie, Star Wars, Pusheen, Hello Kitty, etc. All the toys are scaled down, travel versions of the real thing. The company obviously has a contract with major brands. It follows the Target playbook, get major designers to sign off on disposable versions of their higher end items and the proletariat gets to fool themselves into thinking they're doing better financially than they're not. Brand names for cheap? Who can resist that?
Don't ask why we have extreme weather while you load up your shopping bags with this disposable, unnecessary and pointless landfill-ready stuff. read more