I can picture those of you who know my reputation for writing full-length reviews just sort of…read moresitting there snickering and wondering to yourself "How the heck is he going to write a full-length review about a Dollar Tree?"
Truthfully? I dunno.
However, this Dollar Tree recently opened in my neighborhood just East of 56th & Emerson on Indy's Northeastside and I decided the temptation to get a "first review" and to also review a new neighborhood business was too great. So, here I am reviewing a Dollar Tree.
In case you've never heard of a Dollar Tree, which sounds absurd, it's a discount store where everything is, indeed, a dollar (on very few items, actually less). That's it. That's the gimmick. Amidst a slew of similarly themed discount outlets, Dollar Tree has easily been the winner and grown into a nationwide behemoth that also, I believe, owns the Family Dollar stores (where everything is NOT a dollar).
This Dollar Tree opened up in the Walgreen's that had been vacant for at least a couple years. Truthfully, I'd expected something like a Dollar Tree to take this spot and am surprised it took so long. It's in the same parking lot with Lincoln Square, an interesting dilemma in terms of parking and you bet your bottom dollar (How could I resist?) that Dollar Tree was quick to put up "Dollar Tree parking only" signs over a few spots. They have a 2-3 accessible spots, leftovers from Walgreen's and you can tell it with still crooked, worn signs and the handicapped symbols faded. Fortunately, the metallic signs are in place so for the most part it's still safe to park there.
They have a single curb cut right at the front door, again a left over. The doors are automatic doors, though on my first visit I noticed that only one side actually worked (the right if you're headed in).
The good news, I suppose, is that this location is far more wheelchair friendly than some Dollar Tree locations. Walgreen's had always been remarkably wheelchair friendly and Dollar Tree hasn't done much to change the interior design. Aisles are wide and they've still got quite a bit of open space - I suppose some of that could change once they've been here a while.
The thing that cracks me up about Dollar Tree is that they take over spots like this one and they come in and do a paint job and some modest design changes and, almost without exception, the fresh paint job and design looks worse than it did before. While Walgreen's was certainly no design champ, Dollar Tree looks and feels like, well, a Dollar Tree. While the generally yellow walls isn't as unpleasant as some Dollar Tree locations, it still looks, well, cheap.
The store is somewhat loosely organized as in there's 3 or so rows of food items, a toy area, an aisle for home goods, an aisle for personal care supplies and so on. They do have freezer items toward the back and basically they carry pretty much everything you'd expect a Dollar Tree to carry.
The employees were friendly, though in a Dollar Tree sort of way. One woman seemed to be working the aisles and offering help, while a young man at the cash register seemed to be learning his way with the cash register but his friendliness made up for any speed deficits.
I will confess that I cringed a little bit when Dollar Tree came in here. I'd hoped for something a little more high end given this particular corner's being a sort of bridge between lower-income and middle-class areas and a homicide at the Dollar General less than a block away a few months ago. However, in all honesty, a Dollar Tree sort of made sense here and with a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, CVS, and a Dollar General all within a couple of blocks along with a relatively new Mexican restaurant, Taco Bell, Subway and other existing restaurants this has at least become a busier corner that will hopefully discourage the bad guys a bit more.
So, there you have it - a full-length review about Dollar Tree. You thought I couldn't do it, didn't you?
