Once upon a time, there was a chain of stores called Everything's a Dollar, where everything was a dollar, except for the things that were two for a dollar, or three for a dollar.
And whenever a customer who was a little unclear on the concept (or just being a smart aleck) would ask a staff member, "How much is this?" the entire staff would call out, as one, "Everything's a Dollar!"
Alas, there are no more Everything's a Dollar stores. The Milwaukee-based chain went bankrupt in the 1990s and has since faded from view.
That was just before America went through a big dollar-store boom. Now Dollar Tree, the nation's biggest dollar-store chain, which has adopted the motto "Where Everything's $1" - you can see it on the cash register receipts and the handles of the shopping carts.
The category "dollar store" includes stores like Dollar Tree, and also stores like Big Lots, Dollar General, Family Dollar and Fred's, which are essentially inexpensive department stores, selling some items at $1 but other items at other prices.
And others - from grocery stores to fast food restaurants - are getting in on the act.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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