I’m back!

The dog didn’t eat my homework, but I moved and got married
and sort of left this space open during the insanity. Sorry—my bad.

So, I’ve recently discovered a rather well kept shopping
secret that until now was not available to those of us living in the more
affluent areas of Chadds Ford and the greater Brandywine Valley. Lean closer
and I’ll tell you…Dollar Stores.

OK, I know, you certainly wouldn’t be caught dead in one.
You might see homeless people or worse yet be seen by one of your neighbors.

Well, dollar stores have come to our neighborhoods.

I first ventured into a dollar store on Chincoteague Island,
Va. one rainy October morning a few years ago. I mean, what can you do on
Chincoteague Island when it rains? Chincoteague has both a Family Dollar Store
and a Dollar General Store, because after the tourists leave in September the
island is still a sleepy little fishing village. Plus the island is way too
small to support a Target or Wal-Mart anyway.

But while there, I was pleasantly surprised at the
brand-name household items I was seeing for next to nothing, and filled my
shopping cart with supplies for the winter.

Well guess what’s just opened in the Westtown Village at
Routes 926 and 202?

It’s called $1 Town and is located between Pet Kraze and
Pizza Peddler.

It’s clean, modern, organized and owned by a lovely young
couple, Pratixa and Suvas Pandya. And those shoppers wearing the Eddie Bauer
quilted vests over their L.L. Bean turtlenecks are probably your neighbors.

First off, do not…and I repeat, do not buy any rolls of holiday wrapping paper or gift bags until
you’ve looked here first. The quality you will find at $1 Town is as good or
better than you’ll find anywhere and it’s only $1 a roll.

Coming to the snacks and canned goods aisles, I looked for
the telltale expiration dates.

Another big surprise: Potato chips had expirations dates of
May 2011; applesauce- May 2011; ketchup- December 2012 and canned tuna-
December 2012! Nothing was even near being out-dated.

And there was more: salad dressing, spaghetti, pancake mix,
brownie mix, trash bags, freezer bags, aluminum foil, plastic food storage,
boutique-style facial tissue, shower soap and shampoo in great designer bottles
and the list goes on.

And for you guys:
cable ties, speaker wire, two-way signal splitters, long-nose pliers and
several styles of really awesome-looking screw drivers along with a lot of
basic car-care products.

According to Suvas, 90 percent of their merchandise is only
$1. In fact he loses money on some of the items. The few items listing for over
$1 are plainly marked. Suvas smiled and said he actually had to raise the
prices on some of the items to make the customers more comfortable.

Just five minutes north in the West Goshen Shopping Center
between Famous Shoes and the Chester County Book Company is Dollar or Two. A
little larger than $1 Town it carries much of the same merchandise.

And you know those little reading glasses you normally buy
for $12- $16? Yeah, you guessed it. $1. I’m always losing mine anyway so why
pay more?

So go ahead, give $1 Town a try. And I promise, you don’t
have to go in wearing a big hat and dark glasses—really!