Bargain Shopping is In
June 5th, 2003 Posted in GeneralAccording to a study by WSL Strategic Retail that was printed in Kiplinger’s, half of all consumers who earned more than 100,000 patronized a dollar store last year.
While you’re picturing a diamond-laced heiress combing through the bins at your local “Everything’s a Dollar,” stroll on over to Budget Living’s site to see how chic being cheap has become. This is a great magazine for the bargain hunter–with design stories that even a beer-swilling, football-watching man like me can enjoy.
Dollar General opened another 58 new stores last month alone, nearly 300 new ones this year. And the existing ones are doing record business. Sales are booming at Big Lots and Family Dollar. Shopping at Target is cooler than ever, and Wal-mart is no longer just the place where Bubbas and their overweight families can go to be with their own kind.
So why do people still shop for travel–a rather large part of their disposable income–without this same zest for a bargain? Why go to Bloomingdale’s (i.e. London or Paris) when you can go to Target (Prague or Budapest) for half the price or less? OK, the fixtures are nicer and the salespeople are dressed better at Bloomingdale’s, but which visit do you feel better about when it’s time to pay the credit card bill?
Malaysia Airlines is running a deal right now where you can fly from the US to Asia and visit any or all cities they fly to in a month for $999. You can go diving in the Maldives, shopping in Singapore, seeing the sites around Hanoi, and stay in some of the best hotels in the world (at bargain prices) in Thailand. Your friends will think you’re rich, but like a trip to the dollar store, the prices will leave you smiling.
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