It’s A Women’s World

When I was in high school retro clothes were not considered cool. By the time I entered college the clothes that I had spent only a few dollars on at local thrift stores became wildly popular and expensive. After some ridicule for my wardrobe I was quite shocked at the popularity retro clothes gained seemingly overnight. At first I was not annoyed at the sudden acceptance that retro clothes were granted. It wasn’t until retro clothes became too expensive that I became irritated.

For many years in high school I shopped at thrift stores and secondhand shops and spent only a few dollars on an entire outfit. Once the cultural shift happened and retro clothes became trendy again I was unable to afford them. This went against everything that retro clothes and wearing them stood for.

It seems that fashions get recycled and regurgitated over and over. It is as if the fashion industry has run out of fresh ideas and must constantly revert to the past and what has already been done in order to fill the next season’s catalog. With all the money that clothes and couture pull in, you would think that you would see more innovative designs in the middle sector.

It may have taken me several years, but now I love that retro clothes have come back in fashion because they compliment my natural sense of style. My favorite aspect of retro fashion has to be the jewelry. Everywhere you go now you can find antique looking jewelry. I am obsessed now with chandelier earrings and ornate necklaces. I have found super affordable jewelry at Kohl’s and Target that satisfy my craving for vintage fashion.

It is difficult now to find the great pieces of retro clothes that I used to find at thrift stores. You have to go to real stores now if you are looking for vintage fashion and everything is getting more and more expensive. There is a double edged sword here because I don’t want retailers to stop carrying these clothes that I love, but I also miss the super cheap prices that I used to find them at.

I will have to accept that some day retro clothes will once again fall by the wayside and be forgotten by major retailers. By that time, there should be such a supply of used clothing that I will find those vintage inspired pieces I love so much at thrift stores once again. The recycle circle goes on and on and I plan on benefiting from it again.

Dollar stores are growing in popularity and perhaps the reason is that there is so much to choose from, and you get such a good deal. There are dollar stores that charge only a dollar and there are discount stores that are also called “dollar” even though the prices vary from item to item. If you are considering owning your own business, but have no idea what you want to do, you might consider getting a dollar store franchise. If there aren’t any or perhaps only one in your neighborhood, this might be a good idea. When you own one of these stores, you have to worry about where to get dollar store merchandise.

If you set up a store that is part of a chain, you will probably already have dollar store merchandise when you open. You may also have a supplier that brings you your stuff each week. If you have ever been in Dollar General, you will notice that each store has the same dollar store merchandise in each store. Not all stores are like this though and you may have to find your own.

For the most part, dollar store merchandise is cheap and isn’t of the best quality. At times, you will find expired items on their shelves, as well as items that did not sell in regular stores. After an item has been on the shelves in a full price store for a long time and doesn’t sell during clearance, it is sometimes then destined to be dollar store merchandise. This means that you might find some good stuff for a great deal if you look hard enough.

Whether you own a store, or if you shop in one, you really have to look dollar store merchandise over very well. Other than clearance items you may find expired, broken, scratched or just plain bad stuff. You have to look stuff over carefully when you shop or buy. Some stuff was bought at such a good warehouse price that the savings are passed on to you. In this case, shoppers get very lucky! I once found a DVD I had been looking for and found it at an amazing price.

Most stores don’t have a good return policy, so when looking over dollar store merchandise, keep this in mind. You may have to ask at each individual store what their return policy is and how long you have to get back if you do indeed need to replace something. Even without the return policy, a dollar store may be a place to find amazing deals, as long as you know what you are doing. Though there are stacks of worthless dollar store merchandise items in stores there are some great deal hiding out there too.