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Who doesn’t go to the Dollar Store?

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What does the typical dollar store shopper look like? It’s difficult to define that demographic, because all kind of folks frequent them. In the past, I’ve noticed grandmotherly types, young couples with children, older men, students in search of snacks, and teachers purchasing classroom supplies.

Dollar Store containers for decluttering

Recently, I realized how diverse the economic circumstances of dollar store shoppers can be when on a mission to return some of the varied size containers I had purchased in a frenzied attempt to get organized. Honestly, the containers were only adding to my clutter, so I decided to exchange them for something I really needed. No sense in asking for a cash refund at a dollar store, because the shelves are stocked with lots of useful products. Things like: assorted gift bags, party supplies, books and coloring books, mailing items, tissue paper, snacks, cleaning products, etc. with everything costing a dollar. Each time I visit there to pick up one specific item, I tend to fill my cart with about 20 other products.

Anyway, that day a newer Mercedes-Benz SUV pulled up to the dollar store. A young mother with three older children who all resembled models for a Ralph Lauren commercial got out and hurried into the store to shop. This confirmed my suspicion that dollar store enthusiasts are everywhere.     

It was in the southern states in the 1950s when dollar stores first cropped up. Now, they are a successful phenomenon nationwide. Another version of a dollar store has all types of products many costing more than a dollar, which might be the only retail option a shopper has, especially in a rural or impoverished area.

However, in July 2019, www.CNN.com posted a less than positive article, “Dollar stores are everywhere. That’s a problem for poor Americans,” by Nathaniel Meyersohn regarding, “…opponents…argue that discount chains stifle local competition and limit poor communities’ access to healthy food.” Proponents would disagree, especially if there’s no competing grocery store that might be affected.

The success of the rapidly growing number of dollar stores in the midst of a highly unfavorable brick and mortar retail climate is certainly convincing of consumer demand. A CBS Moneywatch June 2019 article by Sarah Min reports that this year, “The top five retailers for planned store openings are Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Aldi and Five Below. Dollar General alone is planning to open 975 stores… making it the No. 1 company for expansion…Dollar Tree follows with about 350 planned store openings.”

An unscientific study of Facebook friends asking whether they frequent dollar stores and what they purchase there, came up with a noteworthy 88 comments. Referring mostly to the chain of dollar store where everything costs a dollar, comments were posted about buying a plethora of items including: “Gift bags, greeting cards, seasonal decorations, paper products, party supplies, snacks, and on and on.”

 There are some things you might want to avoid purchasing according to an article in the Philadelphia Enquirer, “10 items you should never get at the dollar store,” by Lia Sestric, either because they aren’t a good deal or due to poor quality. Among those, toys for children made in China untested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and off-brand canned goods or off-brand medicine and pet food, whose ingredients should be carefully monitored.

Personally, I started shopping at a dollar store, when it was my only choice when I lived in a rural area a dozen years ago. Sadly, the small, local grocery had closed within months of the dollar store’s opening though. So, I was grateful I was able to purchase much-needed supplies when caretaking for an ill relative prohibited me from driving the required fifteen miles to reach a full-size grocer.

You can even get Birthday balloons from a Dollar Store and all kinds of party products.

Besides, my little survey proved there are a lot of individuals who enjoy a trip to a dollar store. Take my nephew, Andy, for example. He lives in a faraway state, and my means of staying in touch with him is through cards and little gifts. One of those gifts I often include is a little “green” money for him to make a trip to his local dollar store, because I learned that’s one of his happy places.

 This must run in the family, because the dollar store is one of my happy places, too. After all, you just never know what a dollar store shopper looks like, because we truly are everywhere.

Christina Ryan Claypool is a an award-winning freelance journalist who is a three-time Chicken Soup for the Soul book contributor. She has been featured on Joyce Meyer Ministries Enjoying Everyday Life and CBN’s 700 Club. Her latest book, “Secrets of the Pastor’s Wife: A Novel” is available on Amazon and through all major online outlets. Her website is www.christinaryanclaypool.com.

Condolence cards offer comfort a second time

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A snow day in Ohio, the perfect time to tackle that old tub filled with greeting cards collected over the years. After all, lately words like simplify, downsize, and de-clutter seem to be calling to me in a rather frantic voice. Of course, you can’t keep all the cards you receive. For instance, those wonderful Christmas greetings which arrive each holiday can accumulate quickly. According to the Greeting Card Association website, www.greetingcard.org these seasonal cards are the most popular of all varieties selling about 1.6 billion units annually.

Although, most of the cards in my laundry-basket-sized tub are the kind you can’t throw out or recycle. They are treasures that are forever memories including every birthday and Mother’s Day card my son ever sent me. There are romantic cards, too. Ones my husband gave me when we were dating and Valentine’s Day cards from each year after we married. Except for that first year, before he knew that a woman without a Valentine’s card could be a lethal commodity. But that really is a whole other column.

Information from the GCA website explains, “Women purchase an estimated 80% of all greeting cards…spend more time choosing a card… and are more likely to buy several cards at once.” Cindy Garland, owner of The Ivy Garland, a gift and flower shop located in downtown Sidney, Ohio, agrees that women buy more cards. “Absolutely, in here it is probably 90 percent,” she said. The Ivy Garland has been in business for 13 years, and card sales have remained consistent. “I still sell about the same amount….I sell a lot of humorous cards…,” said the shop’s owner. “I [also] sell a lot of sympathy cards…,” she added.

My late mother was the consummate card sender. My tub is half-filled with notes, postcards, and greeting cards from her. It didn’t take a special occasion. I used to tell her that she had a card ministry, because she always seemed to send a card with encouraging words at just the right time. Serendipity or divine providence, you decide. Yet, I always believed that my mother’s card giving was a special gift from God to this world. From her, I learned how important sending a card for a happy or sad occasion can be. One celebrates life, the other says, “You are not alone in your pain.”

“I think people appreciate the gesture anytime,” said Cindy Garland. The businesswoman says that the significance of a greeting card is, “To let people know you are thinking of them. It’s something that they can touch.” When it comes to expressing condolences, a sympathy card has a special purpose. It’s a time when, “…a lot of people don’t know what to say,” said Garland. Therefore, a card’s message can help people to better express their feelings.

I suppose it was no surprise that when Mom died, those who had garnered a lifetime of cards from her, would send a condolence card in her honor. You see, my prolific card-sending mother mailed out several hundred Christmas cards every year. So you can imagine how many sympathy cards I received. I read each one when they arrived shortly after her sudden death more than two years ago. Some of the cards contained messages that helped me get through those dark days. I planned to look the cards over one last time, and throw most of them away. Truthfully, this task had been too painful to undertake before.

On a snowy March afternoon with a hot cup of coffee and blazing fire, reading these thoughtful cards produced amazement and tears. Without the blur of shock and grief, I could hear the heart of each sender. Especially those who had also lost loved ones, sharing what helped them through, wanting desperately to offer comfort. The first time around, I missed this vital point about condolence cards. We are all so deeply touched by the loss others experience, because we all live through heartbreaking losses of our own.

My advice is that if you have experienced a recent bereavement don’t dispose of those sympathy cards. Save them. Then read them again in a couple of years, when you will be able to appreciate them more. In the end, I put all the cards back into the tub realizing that they were too precious to discard. Each one was a new memory of being comforted a second time by others who had courageously walked their own grief-filled road.

Christina Ryan Claypool is an freelance journalist and inspirational speaker. Contact her through her website at www.christinaryanclaypool.com. This column originally appeared in The Lima News and Sidney Daily News March 2013.