Discount Stores Fight It Out, Penny by Penny
Iwould have bet money that I’d be eaten by worms before Kmart ran into trouble because other stores were selling cheaper. But now we have the news that the Blue Light discount chain has rolled over.
Wal-Mart apparently lowballs Kmart on price and Target beats it on quality. I haven’t figured out where Costco fits into this, but my guess is that one day we’ll have just one discount chain with stores the size of Jupiter, and everyone will drive to them in Ford Excursions.
I stopped going to Kmart when they brought in the Martha Stewart Everyday line because I knew in my heart that Martha would never enter a Kmart. Same with Kathie Lee Gifford, who had her name on a line of Third World sweat shop clothing.
But I’m here to tell you that if the Orange County town of La Habra is any indication, the death of Kmart will not be the end of discount shopping in Southern California.
An old friend named Lee Quarnstrom recently retired to La Habra and began making daily explorations around this bargain-hunter’s paradise. He saw a Dollar Tree store and a 99-cent store too, but that was just the beginning.
You’ve got to come look at this place, he told me one day. There’s a raging discount war, and the combatants include a 98-cent store, a 97-cent store and a 96-cent store.
“You don’t need to bring a fistful of dollars,” said Quarnstrom, former editor of Hustler magazine and a columnist for a less reputable outfit (the San Jose Mercury News). He was also one of Ken Kesey’s merry pranksters.
“A friend of mine had a joke about a guy standing at an intersection with a 99-cent store on one corner and a 98-cent store on another corner, trying to decide whether to go for quality or quantity.”
At the 96-cent-and-up store, owner Tony Nguyen promised: “This is the best price you’ll find.”
“But we have items they don’t have,” clerk Suong Luu retorted at the nearby 97-cent store, which is next to the Pay ‘n’ Save and a store that’s apparently named 5 T-shirts for $10. Then there’s the Best For Less store, which is having a “Blow-Out Sale!”
Quarnstrom, by the way, bought a pair of Dr. Dean Edell reading glasses at the 97-cent store and swears by them. I bought a can of Ajax at the 96-cent store and a scented Virgin Mary car freshener at the 98-cent store.
“I don’t know what else to say, except that one of these little shops opens and another one wants to go a cent cheaper,” said Colleen Smith, an office assistant at the Chamber of Commerce.
Exactly. And I haven’t yet ruled out the possibility of shaking up the whole town by opening my own 95-cent store.
There’s a big population of low-income immigrants in La Habra, and that’s one explanation for the discount craze. But I wondered if there was more to it, so I stopped into Casket Discounters, near the Civic Center.
“Someone dies and the family goes to a mortuary, and all sorts of things go through your mind,” said salesman Arthur Quintero. “You say, ‘This is Mom, do we really want to save money on the casket?’ The fact is, you don’t have to pay the prices they’re asking. We’ve got all the same caskets here for 20% to 70% off, and you don’t have to feel guilty about it.”
Sounds like a good business plan for now. But what happens when Costco starts selling caskets?
Smith, of the Chamber, says there’s a Wal-Mart coming to La Habra in May, along with a Sam’s Club and possibly even a Costco.
It won’t matter to Sara Moreno, who does her shopping at the 99 Cents Plus store. She was checking out with three helium-filled balloons for a birthday, a decorative gift bag, two boxes of 32-count Valentine cards, tissue paper and a comb, all for $6.94.
“You can’t get these prices at Target or Kmart,” she said, “nor can you get this kind of service.”
“We like to make the customer feel comfortable, like family,” said the clerk.
People want bargains, shopper Tina Spanley said at the Dollar Tree, which is not far from Ross Dress for Less. “Target, Wal-Mart and Kmart don’t have snack foods for a dollar, like they have here. And look at this oven cleaner. It’s not the name brand, Easy Off, but for a buck? I’d try it for a buck, because Easy Off is 5 dollars.”
As La Habra’s biggest booster, Quarnstrom likes to think that the town is a post-Kmart look at American retail, and he welcomes bargain hunters from far and wide.
We had lunch at Lilly’s, which was running a special. A tamale, enchilada, taco and soft drink, all for only $3.99.
It was first-rate food, but I had the sinking feeling that the same deal was available somewhere else for $3.98.
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Steve Lopez writes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at steve.lopez@latimes.com.
