Am I the only one who shops at 99 cent stores?

[mlgb]

All of these posts on "What's your favorite item at TJ's?"

How about: What did you find today at 99 cent store?

Today:

English Blue Stilton! 5.3 oz wedge "Dairy Crest" Hartington Creamery. Tastes good, too.

Silk brand soy "Chai" quarts

Dulcinea melons

Mini seedless watermelon

Good Earth Tropical flavored black tea bags

Breyers frozen Fruit Swirl 10 pack

Wolfgang Puck Organic Spicy Bean Soup cans

I always get the Rye Krisp and Brunswick herrings, too.

[mlgb]

There was an article in today's Los Angeles Times. The link may not work after a week or so since they put some of the articles in archives.

http://www.latimes.com/business/print...

[smartie]

Nature's Own breads are 99c at my local 99 cent store.

[HollyDolly]

Thanks for the link! Years ago we had some 99Cent stores in town,but they pulled out years ago. Now we have here Dollar Tree.The one in Universal City now has some frozen and refrigerator cases.
Saw there is a 99Cent store on Walzem which is the closeist to me.Will try to check the place out.

[Beach Chick]

Haven't been in awhile but love going to them..Bananas to Campbells soup, Tabasco sauce, Danish Creamery Butter and Baby Ruth candies for my DH..
Gosh mlgb, if your getting that kind of stuff, I need to go tomorrow!
When they scan my items, I always feel I am at a casino..friends are addicted to Dollar Tree..I have never been..

[mlgb]

The store I go to is 99 Cent Only, the chain.

They carry odds and ends, with a refrigerated section and fresh produce (ummm, sometimes not very fresh) as well as packaged groceries. It's a lottery. Lately they've had those Chilean blueberries, small UHT milk and Silks, various Yoplait yogurts, Kraft 2% Live Active cheese cubes, and Muir Glen tomato soup. Also I'm addicted to their kettle corn.

[Beach Chick]

Hi mlgb..
I'm thinking the .99cent chain with the bright pink and purple coloring..love your finds!

[mlgb]

That's the one. Just be sure to check the expiration dates.

[jim1126]

I used to shop at a 99 Cent Only location in Houston, and used to find stuff like mlgb has, but lately there is absolutely no variety whatsoever in what they sell. Now it's just the same no-name canned goods week after week. Limited produce, usually bags of chile peppers. Used to be able to find a closeout treasure or two -- no more.

[mlgb]

I wonder if the S. California stores get better stuff because the HQ is here. Texas was an expansion for them and a lot of stock analysts thought it was a bad move. (Disclosure...I sold my stock when they announced the expansion and haven't owned it since, thank goodness!)

[LisaN]

I shop there alot too
Shasta Soda
Random Potato Chips - love the Granny Goose Ones
Cucumbers
Tony Chachere's Jambalaya mix (its $3 at a regular grocery store)
Tootsie Flavor Rolls

[justagthing]

Mexican Coke 2 bottles for 99 cents.

[crt]

We shop at Dollar Tree here in the 'OC'. Don't buy much, if anything, in the way of food items. Mostly things like softening sheets for the dryer...dishes, glasses & kitchen utensils...foil 'sandwich' wraps and other misc. items that may catch our eyes. But that's about it. Some items we would never consider purchasing would be health/beauty items. They, like similar stores i.e. 99c Only, have U.S. name brand look alike toothpastes mostly made in Canada, Mexico, China as well as other parts of the world where quality standards are much lower. Flouride levels in some of the foreign countries are up to 10 times higher than toothpaste manufacturered here in the U.S.. Kids shouldn't be swallowing this stuff. In certain toothpastes found in these stores manufacturered and imported from China the FDA found the poisonous chemical diethyhelen glycol DEG, I believe used in radiator anitfreeze.

[rozz01]

I'm amazed at the Dollar Tree. I have found giant jars of roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, good extra fancy manzanilla olives and some great crackers. I think its just luck what you can find.

[Quine]

Well,
1st) are you talking a Chain or just dollar stores in general?
2nd) Please be aware that health laws in various states influence what maybe sold in some levels of retail stores.

[justagthing]

I believe she is talking about the chain, 99 cents only, not the mom and pop ones.

[libgirl2]

I was at my local dollar store. The woman in front of me was having her purchases scanned when a decorative bowl beeped several times as it scanned. The checkout person told her the item was recalled. He said they usually get notices and pull the items, but they also have an automated system in case something is missed. He right away went to the shelf and removed the rest.

I have had several good food purchases there..... cheese sticks, frozen dinners and yummy Freschetta artichoke and cheese appetizer bowls (don't know why they don't make them, they were great, 6 for a dollar). Oh and some of there candy is pretty good. I have had a couple of bad purchases, but I found if I stick to mainly brand name overstocks I do pretty well.

[CrazyOne]

Well, not all of us live in Arizona, California, Nevada or Texas. ;-)

I'm assuming you mean the 99¢ Only chain, which is focused on food stuff, as opposed to as a generic term. Generic "dollar stores" (what I would call them) don't have much in the way of food.

Wish we had one of these though, looks good http://www.99only.com/

[enbell]

Yea, I'm only familiar with the dollar store, whic occasionally will have a random find. One must proceed to the checkout with caution however, becase while the notion of only one dollar seems like a bargain, it *can* be more than the supermarket price.

[Ruth Lafler]

Oh cool! I shop at the Big Lots across the parking lot from one of these stores, but I never checked it out.

Although I mostly go there for bath products (love getting fancy shower gel for $1 a bottle), I sometimes find interesting foodstuffs at Big Lots -- last time I was in there I bought some Abuelita chocolate syrup (with the traditional Mexican hot chocolate flavorings and no HFCS).

[stellamystar]

Big Lots rocks. I have found so many great "ethnic" items there - hispanic, Indian bread mixes, some exotic oils, etc. Deals is another chain (Mo/ks area). that has some cheapie items.

I, of course, also go to Aldi!!!!