Variety stores around the world
Variety stores are known by different names according to the local language and other factors. Following is an overview of the different names as well as the leading chains of variety stores in countries around the world:
North America
According to IBISWorld, dollar stores have grown 43 percent since 1998 and have become a $56 billion industry. Colliers International claims there are more dollar stores than drug stores. With stores of other types closing in large numbers, dollar stores often replace other types of stores in shopping centers. They succeed partly because of impulse purchases.[1]
Variety store chains in North America
- In Canada: A Buck or Two (163+), Dollarama (1,095),[2] Dollar Tree Canada (226),[3] Everything For a Dollar Store, Great Canadian Dollar Store (100+), Your Dollar Store With More (180+)
- In Mexico: Prichos, Waldo's Dollar Mart, Miniso
- In the United States: 99 Cents Only Stores (386),[4] Daiso (68),[5] Dollar General (13,320),[6]Dollar Tree (6,134),[3] Family Dollar (7,974),[3] Five Below (522),[7] K Dollar, and Real Deals
Names for variety stores in North America
- Dollar store, $1.25 store, 99-cent store, etc. in the United States and Canada plus other names. Dollar store is used predominantly, even when the maximum price point is higher than one dollar. Some chains emphasize that the price is an even amount: $2, $5, etc., instead of having odd, "uneven" prices.
- Dólar y Algo Extra, La Reina, Almacenes Caravana in Puerto Rico
- Five and Dime
- Five and Ten
- Nickel and Dime
- Nickel and Ten
- 5 y 10 in Mexico (5 and 10 pesos, or 5 and ten U.S. cents in border cities) - incidentally, Cinco y Diez, meaning "Five and Ten" in Spanish, became an inner-suburban shopping district in Tijuana
Oceania
- In Australia the main variety stores now consist of The Reject Shop, Daiso, Shiploads (in Tasmania), and a variety of smaller chains and independent shops. Former chains include Crazy Clark's, Homeart, Sam's Warehouse, Clint's Crazy Bargains, Go-Lo and Chickenfeed.
- In New Zealand: The $2 Shop, 1 2 3 Dollar Shop, and Coin Save
Names for variety stores in Oceania
- $2 shop in Australia and New Zealand
- Cheap Shop in Australia only
Asia
 | This section needs to be updated. (December 2018) |
In Japan, 100-yen shops (百円ショップ hyaku-en shoppu or 百均 hyakkin) have proliferated since around 2001. This is considered an after-effect of a decade-long recession of the Japanese economy.[8] Despite the emphasis on value, however, some items, such as chocolate bars, may be priced higher than they are at other stores.
For a few years, 100-yen shops existed not as permanent stores, but as vendors under temporary, foldable tents. They were (and still are) typically found near the entrance areas of supermarkets.
A major player in 100-yen shops is the Daiso chain. The first store opened in 1991, and there are now around 2,400 stores in Japan. This number is increasing by around 40 stores per month. Daiso has also expanded into North America, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East.[9]
In China, ¥2 (or ¥3, depending on the area's economic prosperity) shops have become a common sight in most cities. In Hong Kong, major department stores have opened their own $10 shops (US$1.28) to compete in the market, and there are now "$8 shops" (US$1.02) and even "$2 shops" (US$0.26) competing at lower prices, especially in poorer communities. Low prices are helped by Hong Kong's lack of a sales tax and its proximity to China.
In Taiwan, fixed price stores can be found in many locations, including night markets, regular shopping streets, regular market stalls, and department stores. Two typical price points are NT$39 and NT$49. Given that the retail environment in Taiwan is already highly competitive, it is not unusual to see such stores fail. Typically the goods for such stores are manufactured in China to keep costs down.
In India, US Dollar Store, founded in 2003, is a pioneer of single price stores. The merchandise for pilot stores was sent from America. As sales grew over the years with more than 200 operational stores in India, the merchandise is now imported from China, Indonesia, Thailand, Spain, Portugal, UK and various other countries as well as the US. US Dollar stores were founded by entrepreneur Gaurav Sahni, owner of Nanson Overseas Private Limited. Nanson, operated by Gaurav Sahni and his brother Gautam Sahni, has had an established sourcing and consolidation network for over two decades, with supply bases worldwide. Direct sourcing without intermediaries and stocking a large variety of merchandise as and when needed has given the company an advantage.
Variety store chains in Asia
- In China: Miniso
- In India: US Dollar Store
- In Japan: Daiso, Daiei, Seria
- In Malaysia: RM 2 stores (2 ringgit)
- In Pakistan: Ghazali's HomeStore
Names for variety stores in Asia
- 100 fils Shop in Kuwait
- 2 riyal Shop in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries
- 100-yen shop or one coin shop in Japan
- 10-dollar shop (US$1.28), 8-dollar shop, etc. in Hong Kong
- 1000 Won shop in South Korea
- 88 or 99 Peso store in Philippines
- 49 & 99 shop in India
- Hakol Bedollar (everything for a Dollar) in Israel
- Ghazali's HomeStore in Pakistan
- Всё по 100 рублей (English: Everything at 100 rubles) in Russia
- 10 or 20 Baht shop in Thailand
Europe
- In Belgium, chains include Action, HEMA, and Zeeman.
- In Denmark: føtex, Tiger, a pun on the word for the Danish ten-krone coin, opened in the mid-nineties in Copenhagen and has since spread to other countries
- In France: Action, HEMA, Monoprix, Uniprix, M. 1-2-3. Zeeman
- In Germany, there are ToBi (Template:Lang-de, "Totally Inexpensive") stores where most items cost one or two Euro or less. Other chains include Action, EuroShop, HEMA, Mäc-Geiz (240 stores), Pfennigland, Pfennigpfeiffer (110 stores), TEDi (1400 stores across Europe), Thomas Philipps (200 stores), and Zeeman
- In Greece: 300 (300 drachmas, €0.90)
- In Hungary there are 100 forintos bolt ("100 forints store") stores, but they do not form a single chain, instead of being operated by small, independent companies.
- In Ireland: EuroGiant, Dealz
- In Italy: UPIM
- In Luxembourg: HEMA, Zeeman
- In Malta: Tal-Lira
- In the Netherlands: HEMA chain started in the Netherlands, sold goods using standard prices of 10, 25 or 50 cents, and later also 75 and 100 cents. After World War II, this model could not be sustained and the standard pricing system was abandoned.[10] HEMA is the abbreviation of Hollandish standardized prices company (Template:Lang-nl). The HEMA had some 500 Dutch stores in 2011 and also operates in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Since 2016 the chain is expanding in to other European countries such as Spain and the United Kingdom. Other chains include Action, Big Bazar, Euroland, and Zeeman.
- In Portugal there were Trezentos shops (300 escudos, €1.50), but with the introduction of the Euro currency, this designation is not used nowadays and the terms 'bazar' or 'euro store' are preferred. Chains include Eupoupo - Tudo a €0,99 ou €1,49
- In Russia: Fixprice (50 rubles)
- Spain there are Todo a 100 shops ("everything for 100 pesetas" (€0.60)), although due to the introduction of the euro and inflation, most products cost a multiple of €0.60 or €1. Most of these shops maintain their name in pesetas, and most of them have been renamed as Casi todo a 100 ("almost everything for 100 [pesetas]"), Todo a 100, 300, 500 y más ("everything for 100, 300, 500 or more") or Todo a un euro. Colloquially, the expression todo a 100 implies that something is either cheap, kitsch or low quality.[citation needed]
- In Sweden: Bubbeltian, called by some Tian, a colloquialism for ten kronor, US$1.20. Another chain that has been spreading in Sweden during the last seven years is Dollarstore, a chain where everything costs either 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and steps of 50 up to 500 kr.
- In United Kingdom: B & M, Boyes, HEMA, Home Bargains, Poundland, Poundstretcher, Poundwise
Names for variety stores in Europe
- 100 forintos bolt in Hungary
- 3,8 RON shop in Romania
- Всичко по 1 лев in Bulgaria
- Euro store, €2 store, etc. in the Eurozone
- Euroland (formerly known as knaakland) in the Netherlands
- Euroshop or 1-Euro-Shop in Germany
- Loja dos 300 in Portugal 300 escudos = 1.5 Eur
- Magasin à prix unique (English: one price store) in France
- Max20 (kroner) in Norway
- Pound shop, 99p shop, etc. in the United Kingdom
- Sve po 8/10/12 kuna in Croatia
- Sve za 79/99/100 dinara (Everything for 79/99/100 dinars) in Serbia
- Tal-Lira in Malta (Lira was Malta's old currency before transitioning to Euro)
- Todo a 100, 20 duros and SuperCien in Spain (former cien = 100 pesetas = €0.60)
- Wszystko za 5 złotych in Poland
South America
In Argentina, variety stores are called todo por dos pesos (everything for 2 pesos).
Brazilians sometimes use the expression um e noventa e nove to refer to cheap, low quality things or even people.
In Chile, they are called todo a mil (referring to the one thousand Chilean pesos banknote). They are commonly located in middle-class neighbourhoods where big retail stores don't usually venture and in small commercial districts like the ones in Santiago.
In South America, variety stores may be known as:
- Dolarazo (US$1.00) and Cincuentazo (US$0.50) in Ecuador
- Loja de 1,99 (BRL1.99 = US$1.07) in Brazil
- Todo por 23 pesos in Uruguay (23 pesos = US$1)
- Todo por dos Pesos in Argentina (1 peso = US$0.32)
Africa
- In Egypt, a variety store may be called a 2.5 LE shop
References
- ^ "Dollar stores among the new retail powerhouses". News & Record. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ "Fourth Quarter MD&A" (PDF). Dollarama Financial Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ a b c "Dollar Tree Annual Reports (10-K) 2016" (PDF). Dollar Tree Financial Information - Annual Reports. Retrieved 5 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "99 Cents Only Stores Reports Strong Fourth Quarter And Full Year Fiscal 2017 Results". 99 Cents Only Stores. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "USA Store Locator, DAISO JAPAN". Daiso Japan. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "Dollar General Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2016 Financial Results; Company Provides Financial Guidance for Fiscal 2017". Dollar General Newsroom. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "Five Below, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2016 Financial Results". Five Below, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ Bender, Andrew (27 June 2010). "Bargain hunting at Japan's 100-yen stores". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Typical Overseas Stores Archived 12 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hema.nl[dead link]