United States of America Shopping Tips by b1bob

Name of Shop: Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is a chain of grocery stores with a neighbourhood feel across 23 states and Washington, D.C. The founder is said to have envisaged the South Seas theme while on vacation in the Caribbean. He had noticed that Americans were traveling more and returning home with tastes for food and wine they had trouble getting anywhere back home.

What To Buy: Products sold include gourmet foods, organic foods, vegetarian food, unusual frozen foods, imported foods, kosher foods, domestic and imported wine, "alternative" food items, and basics like bread, cereal, eggs, dairy, coffee and produce. Many of the company's products are considered environmentally friendly. I found some "fair trade" Ethiopian coffee, various spices, and even a yellow watermelon.

What To Pay: By selling almost all of its products under its own label, Trader Joe's buys directly from both local and international small time vendors, passing the savings on to us.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Food and Drink
Website: www.traderjoes.com

Name of Shop: Dollar General

Dollar General was founded in the late 1930s as a humble wholesale business in Kentucky. Today, it is a chain of discount stores across more than 30 states. In 1955 it was the first retail store that sold all items for $1. 30% of Dollar General's merchandise is still priced at $1 or less. Small stores average about 7000 square feet, making shopping for basic necessities simple and convenient. Super centres called Dollar General Markets are slightly larger, but offer groceries as well as the basic items sold at the traditional stores. Dollar General stores are concentrated in under-served rural and urban neighbourhoods.



Leave a Comment

Theme: Discount Store

Name of Shop: Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning looks at first glance like an upmarket gift boutique. This is not what one would think of as a b1bob type of store, but I went in there to buy part of Mama's Christmas present in 2005. However, the same types of merchandise you see in better department stores with well-known brand names come at 50-80% less than you would find there. With more than 700 stores across the fruited plain, there's most likely one of these in your backyard.

What To Buy: Mama collects candles and I bought her some of various scents including that of herbes de provence. There is all manner of home furnishings and other gifts large and small.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Gifts
Website: www.tuesdaymorning.com

Name of Shop: Hot Topic

Folks, this is not what you might call a b1bob kind of store. I put it here not as a recommendation, but as something for folks from outside the U.S. to be on the lookout for as a curiosity when they shop at an American shopping mall. It was founded on the premise that no other retailers were taking timely advantage of the direct correlation between music videos, alternative artists, and teenage fashions. Hot Topic keeps up with music videos, concerts, and music magazines and claims to always be well ahead of the curve. They say that if it's happening in music related fashion, it's happening at Hot Topic right now.

What To Buy: Some of the ugliest fashion called alternative can be found here as well as all manner of accessories. It's always fun for a square like me to come in here and check things out (like Spencer Gifts was when I was a kid).


Leave a Comment

Theme: Music
Website: www.hottopic.com

Name of Shop: Disney Store

Don't live near Disney World (in Orlando, Florida) or Disneyland (Anaheim, California)? Well, no problem. You can at least buy much of the same rubbish they sell in stores at the parks in all 50 states of the USA plus a few foreign countries. Disney Stores have become almost as familiar a fixture in most malls as The Gap.

What To Buy: You can find toys, games, movies, music, clothing, small home furnishings, art, and collectibles at any one of hundreds of these stores.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Gifts
Directions: At a mall near you.

Name of Shop: PetsMart

When you visit the USA, there is no reason to leave your pet off your whatnot list. PetsMart stands out from most other pet supply places in that you can bring your pet in to shop with you. PetsMart sells not only standard food, treats, and pet toys, but also grooming aids and other health products. Pet Smart also has an obedience school right there in the store.


What To Pay: Although PetsMart tends to be located at upscale strip malls, the prices for most pet care products are reasonable.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Directions: You can find PetsMart in most of the 50 U.S. states plus some in Canada.
Website: www.petsmart.com

Some professional sporting teams in the United States have stores which sell only officially licenced team products. I do not know whether these stores (together with the shops at the stadium) have a monopoly on licenced products, but here is where you will find the majority of them. On enlarging the photo, you will see two examples of this. Note that neither team is among my favourites. In American football, I am a fan of the Carolina Panthers and in baseball I like the Atlanta Braves. On top is the Official Washington Redskins Store. There is one store in Washington, DC (Union Station as in the picture), one in suburban Maryland, six in Northern Virginia, and one as far south as Richmond. On the bottom is the (New York) Mets Club House. There are three in the city (all in Manhattan, I believe) plus the featured one at Menlo Park Mall in suburban Edison, New Jersey. Other teams may have these official stores, but I single out the first two examples I found.



Leave a Comment

Theme: Sporting Goods

Name of Shop: As Seen on TV

If you've been in the USA for any length of time, you have seen numerous commercials advertising a lot of interesting gadgets you might not have thought possible. The good news is, you no longer have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to be shipped to you. You can now go to a mall near you and pick up your Houdini Corkscrew or whatever it is you're looking for.

What To Buy: As Seen on TV offers a lot of intersting things like a liquid leather repair kit, various innovative cooking tools, and a flat screen telephone that can double as a calculator. Some things sold here border on the absurd, but some things can be useful.

What To Pay: The prices are pretty reasonable. Many things are only $19.95, but that's a bargain when you consider you won't have to pay shipping and handling.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Directions: At a mall near you.
Website: www.asseenontv.com

Name of Shop: Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports sells all kinds of kitschy home furnishings- the kind of stuff you would find in Martha Stewart's house (and maybe her jail cell). The offer things to put in practically every room in the house, including the loo. They even have a bridal registry. This is the kind of store I like to avoid because I like to buy American except when I'm traveling abroad (whereupon I like to support the local economy and bring a few whatnots home). Any store that brags that it's "socially conscious" is not my kind of store to start with. I'm just letting y'all know it's here if you want it.



Leave a Comment

Theme: Other
Directions: They're all over the USA, plus Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Website: www.pierone.com

Name of Shop: Spencer Gifts

When we were kids going to the mall, my brother and I would always ask Mama and Daddy to let us wander into Spencer Gifts, not to buy anything, but to see all the weird merchandise they had for sale. The last time I went was at university when I went along with Matt Rogers and Dave Coolidge in Dave's rice burner (Japanese car) to the location at Springfield Mall for Dave to buy a can of fart spray (a worse odour than the real thing). It was back in the days when I was compact enough to fit in the hatch of the Honda CRX.

What To Buy: All manner of joke items, party favours, and other rubbish made in Red China.


Leave a Comment

Theme: Gifts
Directions: At a mall near you.
Website: http://www.spencergifts.com