Sign of the Times

The Dollar Giant store in Abbotsford recently converted into a Dollar Tree, which (as you can probably guess) is the exact same store. I watched them, however, paint the outside a slightly different shade of green, and then take down the lettering that said, “Dollar,” and replace it with new lettering that said, “Dollar.” At that point, my mind was blown. Today they have a, “Grand Opening,” sign outside the store. I’m fairly certain all these “changes” took place to fuck with the elderly and the easily confused. Imagine, walking into a store you had only recently visited, pay for your purchases, and as you leave and you’re about to get in the car to go home, you look back and notice something is amiss. Then it slowly washes over you, and you worry you’ve slipped into an alternate dimension, one where Dollar Tree is King.

Abbotsford seems to have the most dollar stores per capita on the planet, and this isn’t the first one to change hands. A dollar store at the 2nd rate mall went under. They couldn’t keep up with the stiff competition with all those other dollar stores, who sell the exact same items at the exact same price. How does a dollar store ever emerge the victor in the retail warfare game when they’re identical copies of themselves selling Chinese poisons disguised as discount goods?

Retail itself is confusing. Linen’n’Things went under, and all the employees were laid off. Then they opened up a new Bed, Bath and Beyond, which is the same store, in the same space as the old one. Zellers is closing down the same way, and becoming a Target. These stores get officially close and sit empty, then the new company comes in and “changes” everything. I literally cannot tell the difference between Linen’n’Things and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Not the layout, not the merchandise, or the pricing. It baffles me. The minimum wage workers who unfortunately work at these stores, in the meantime, are shit canned. Even if they’re hired on to the newer store, there’s still months and sometimes full years in which they’re helpless as the renovations take place. They’re better off looking for work in a whole new field. I guess this happens in Canada more than anywhere else as US retailers look to buy space by buying out established Canadian brands. The only exception is Best Buy and Futureshop, which are the same store, but somehow co-exist, usually right next to each other. Literally, right next to each other. Throwing distance. They sell the exact same things for the exact same price. Now their mutual chains are crashing because everyone buys their expensive electronics online at a cheaper price, so eventually there’ll be two empty stores instead of just the one.