Just a Buck sounds so much better than the UK equivalent…..Pound Shop
I own a manual date stamper from Pound shop that i will never use, that shop has a strage affect on my buying habits.
Gwind, I too hate to shop and I don’t have a lot of money, so if I can get something I actually need (make a list) and it’s cheap, then I’m happy. I know we’re supposed to buy things that are made in the US and by people who actually got paid for making it, but sometimes with some things, it’s just not happening. My friends use these types of stores to get their shopping fix without breaking the bank. Many people I know are really addicted to shopping, to spending to getting SOMETHING every damn day and this way they can without spending a ton. The addiction is still there, I never got it, thank goodness, it’s like a gambling addiction where you think just one more quarter in that slot and then I’ll be happy, and then another. And next thing you know it’s dawn outside and you have to go to work in an hour. These stores are more for feeding that kind of thing than actually being “stores”, at least that’s how I see it.
I am of a number of minds on this, whether approaching the question from macro or micro economics. I’m fortunate in that even though Kingston is a fairly small town, in our immediate region we have one or two good ones of most things, locally owned — a camera shop, a couple of music stores, and a diversity of artisans, farmers, and so on. Heck, people even have a locally grown organic horoscope to read. For an alternative to Wal Mart, we have Houst Hardware in Woodstock, which is worth the trip all by itself. You cannot get that much that’s locally made there, but it’s the place to get stuff like Lodge Ware. With guitars in my walking-distance shop, there’s the choice of basically Mexican, Asian or American instruments. There are few Canadian ones as well. So there is diversity of choice — but for the American instruments you have to be ready to spend 50% to 100% more. They are better, however, often enhanced by improved craftsmanship and components as incentive. We live in a world where you can get a decent Chinese made electric guitar on the Internet for $200. So this is a temptation, but for many it’s also a hedge against inflation and high rent.
I used to go to dollar stores decades ago when they first started popping up. In transition, poor, and needing to nest again, I was well aware that I could go inside, buy whatever, and leave feeling that I was in control of my life. That fleeting moment was pretty fun since I hate to shop and was obsessed in keeping out of debt. [so young! so naive!]
I guess no matter how much I spend, or what store it comes from, the mass-produced item I am buying is going to flow through me, to Good Will, a Freecycle member, ETSY or EBay, and eventually into a landfill.
Many people, including me, complain about cheap, unsafe consumer goods, but when was the last time we purchased something local, handmade, and was willing to pay a livable wage to that person?
..Rolling the same marble down a different track, “How does one not feel cheap when displaying such garb,.. proudly!?” Could you honestly (if not for a psych. experiment) turn in an application at that place? I guess if it’s the only thing you know.. we’ll have to activate in order to swath a space to open up in this creation.. Of course, if you are just playing.. and of course you would be, would you not still just be YOU within that brick and mortar?!.
Just a Buck sounds so much better than the UK equivalent…..Pound Shop
I own a manual date stamper from Pound shop that i will never use, that shop has a strage affect on my buying habits.
Gwind, I too hate to shop and I don’t have a lot of money, so if I can get something I actually need (make a list) and it’s cheap, then I’m happy. I know we’re supposed to buy things that are made in the US and by people who actually got paid for making it, but sometimes with some things, it’s just not happening. My friends use these types of stores to get their shopping fix without breaking the bank. Many people I know are really addicted to shopping, to spending to getting SOMETHING every damn day and this way they can without spending a ton. The addiction is still there, I never got it, thank goodness, it’s like a gambling addiction where you think just one more quarter in that slot and then I’ll be happy, and then another. And next thing you know it’s dawn outside and you have to go to work in an hour. These stores are more for feeding that kind of thing than actually being “stores”, at least that’s how I see it.
I am of a number of minds on this, whether approaching the question from macro or micro economics. I’m fortunate in that even though Kingston is a fairly small town, in our immediate region we have one or two good ones of most things, locally owned — a camera shop, a couple of music stores, and a diversity of artisans, farmers, and so on. Heck, people even have a locally grown organic horoscope to read. For an alternative to Wal Mart, we have Houst Hardware in Woodstock, which is worth the trip all by itself. You cannot get that much that’s locally made there, but it’s the place to get stuff like Lodge Ware. With guitars in my walking-distance shop, there’s the choice of basically Mexican, Asian or American instruments. There are few Canadian ones as well. So there is diversity of choice — but for the American instruments you have to be ready to spend 50% to 100% more. They are better, however, often enhanced by improved craftsmanship and components as incentive. We live in a world where you can get a decent Chinese made electric guitar on the Internet for $200. So this is a temptation, but for many it’s also a hedge against inflation and high rent.
I used to go to dollar stores decades ago when they first started popping up. In transition, poor, and needing to nest again, I was well aware that I could go inside, buy whatever, and leave feeling that I was in control of my life. That fleeting moment was pretty fun since I hate to shop and was obsessed in keeping out of debt. [so young! so naive!]
I guess no matter how much I spend, or what store it comes from, the mass-produced item I am buying is going to flow through me, to Good Will, a Freecycle member, ETSY or EBay, and eventually into a landfill.
Many people, including me, complain about cheap, unsafe consumer goods, but when was the last time we purchased something local, handmade, and was willing to pay a livable wage to that person?
..Rolling the same marble down a different track, “How does one not feel cheap when displaying such garb,.. proudly!?” Could you honestly (if not for a psych. experiment) turn in an application at that place? I guess if it’s the only thing you know.. we’ll have to activate in order to swath a space to open up in this creation.. Of course, if you are just playing.. and of course you would be, would you not still just be YOU within that brick and mortar?!.
Surreal picture, man.
Jere