So as I’ve written before, the retail complex below my apartment is taking shape. Some of the retail spaces have been leased but no signs have been put so it’s impossible to tell who is opening up shop soon. Near my end of the mall, there is a rather large space, nearly 10x the square footage compared to the other normal stores. I was quite excited about this because it seemed like a great opportunity for a restaurant to go in. Thoughts of a White Spot or a Swiss Chalet danced through my head. The prospect of delicious rotisserie chicken or Triple-O sauce infused burgers just downstairs from where I lived had me looking at buying elastic waist pants.
Weeks went by at this retail space and nothing but a “leased” sign even indicated that someone had plans for moving in. Then last week, the corporate entity that had leased that space finally showed its hand. A simple white signed was plastered on one of the windows, “Dollar Tree“. I was immediately disappointed. A crappy dollar store was going to take up one of the largest areas in the mall. I have nothing against dollar stores in principle. They are great places to get that odd item that you usually never buy but need so badly and don’t want to pay a lot for. The problem is, dollar stores are not what you consider a “high-end” retailer. The stores are almost always very basic, plain looking, and in most cases, a bit messy. Also for some reason that I can’t figure out, every single dollar store I’ve been to always smells like something that will give you cancer. The other issue is that most of the merchandise in a dollar store, by virtue of its price, is of low quality. They always have these weird brand names you’ve never heard of before. All of this adds up to a retailer that I wish hadn’t taken up such a rare spot in the mall. If this sounds like a “not in my backyard” type of stance, well I guess it kinda is.
I’m just not excited that I’ll be able to buy a package of “Mrs. Freshley’s” cookies for $1. I’ve never even heard of her before!