EVERYTHING FOR ONE DOLLAR AT THE DOLLAR STORE

 TAKE A LOOK.

THIS IS AMAZING.

The store sells greeting cards and holiday decorations, knick-knacks and toys.

They sell hardcover books and childrens books, coloring books and crayons and pens and pencils and writing paper and index cards.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

There's an aisle with a large variety of candles, candle holders, and scented oils.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

Shampoos, conditioners, body wash, toothpaste, cologne, lipstick and hair ribbons fill the shelves.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

Along the back are flooor cleaners and all-purpose cleaners, dish washing liquids and laundry detergent, fabric softeners and bleach and carpet fresheners.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

And there's food. Tuna fish and spaghetti sauce, beans and soup, snacks and cookies and candy.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

There are freezers and coolers full with milk and fruit juice, butter and eggs and cheese and ice cream, frozen dinners and french fries and frozen strawberries.

ONE DOLLAR EACH.

The strawberries are from China.

They had to be grown there, picked and cleaned and packaged, shipped to the U.S., and trucked to the stores.

How can they sell a package of frozen strawberries for one dollar?

It seems impossible.

Besides the strawberries, there's the packaging. It has to be produed and printed and trucked to the warehouse somewhere in China.

That package gets filled with the cleaned strawberries and packed into a shipping case, then into a shipping container, then onto the ship.

At some time during this process the strawberries were frozen. From then on they had to be kept in a freezer.

How many hands have those strawberries passed through before they even reach the U. S.?

And they're sold for one dollar a package.

The dishwashing liquid is made in the U. S. A., in Connecticut, in fact.

Why can I buy a bottle of dishwashing liquid for one dollar in the dollar store but a brand name in the grocery store costs twice as much?

The shampoo comes from Canada.

Both the dishwashing liquid and the shampoo seem to have a lot more water in them than the brand names do. Maybe that's how they sell for less. So if a person tends to use more of each than is necessary, a watered-down version isn't a bad buy.

There do seem to be some good deals in a dollar store, but a shopper should choose carefully.

America's many laws and many lawyers don't protect consumers completely, but U. S. companies know the trouble they'll be in if their product is harmful.

It's those from China we should be careful about. Can we trust that the frozen strawberries are clean? That they remained frozen? Or that the toys do not contain toxic materials?

One dollar stores are fun to explore and do offer bargains, but the consumer must shop carefully. If you don't feel confident about a product, it's not worth the bargain.

Why take a chance?