147 replies to this topic

[gumgum]

Seriously. Are there enough things for sale under a dollar to fill this store?

[Caramia]

Yep, I went there today, and got a couple of kitchen racks, some spanish hair thingys, some kitchen scissors and about about 6 dollars worth of crap I didn't need but for some reason thought was a good idea to buy at the time.
/sigh
The good news is, I had been to the kitchen store and their racks were like $7 for pretty much the same product. Also, the spanish hair thingys are something I've been looking for for awhile and no one else has.

The store is pretty full.

[Holden West]

Not surprisingly, "Spanish hair thingy" is a Googlenope.

[VicHockeyFan]

OK, checked it out today. I like it.

Compact flourescents $1
Halogen lamps, both spot type and inline type $1
Good supply of tools, including half-decent quality pliers etc, also painting rollers and replacement roller sleeves,lots of paint brushes, rubber mallett $1
Chocolate bars $0.65 reg, $1 jumbo.
Good supply of haircare products $1
12 8" glow-bracelets $1
They have one aisle of food even, mostly come canned stuff and biscuits $1
Good selection of greeting cards $1
Wrapping paper, bows, ribbon etc. $1
Whole aisle of socks $1

[Holden West]

[Ms. B. Havin]

^ Good photo. Is that a crow picking at the "L"?

Irrespective of whether one approves of the colour, that facade is now one giant sign. Clever way to get around any restrictions regarding size, I guess...

[Holden West]

I am furious yellow

Letters
Monday Magazine

Many freedom-hating people will doubtless criticize the boldest new storefront on Douglas Street. (You know the one—it shines like a freshly laundered Edmonton Eskimos cheering section.)

Many will cringe at the eye-gouging green trim if they haven’t been blinded by the “I am furious yellow” walls. Many—even bargain lovers—might be tempted to boycott the store until it tones down. Others might be provoked to, if not acts of defacement, then at least make contact with the owner (President: Joseph Calvano, jcalvano@dollargiant.com, http://www.dollargiant.com) and complain bitterly.

But what these knee-jerk reactionaries fail to appreciate is the blistering presence of this bright new contender on the strip makes that powdered old tart of the main drag, City Hall, look positively understated.

Phil Young, Victoria

[VicHockeyFan]

^
Irrespective of whether one approves of the colour, that facade is now one giant sign. Clever way to get around any restrictions regarding size, I guess...

Similar to the "dog hiding bones" mural on the storage place on Blanshard.

[Rob Randall]

I am told the Dollar Store is being repainted soon and the facade tidied up.

[Nparker]

I am told the Dollar Store is being repainted soon and the facade tidied up.

Thank gawd. The city scrutinizes every millimetre in height of new construction, but allows this atrocious eyesore 2 doors down from City Hall. The mind boggles.

[Rob Randall]

I don't think the City can be faulted here. A business owner normally doesn't need to submit paint colours for approval before painting a non-heritage building. The City put heavy pressure on the store owners to change the colour after it was done and after months of resistance the owner is caving in.

[Nparker]

We have the strangest rules in this city.

[martini]

I wonder what the owner of The Rialto thought of it's garish neighbour?

[D.L.]

I am labeling anyone who has a problem with the colour of this building a prude and grouping them with the worst of the development nimbys in this town.

[yodsaker]

Always wondered why city hall was painted... is it to hold the bricks together?
I prefer brick to paint, just a little more texture.
And while I'm on it, I just hate the legoland lights on the ledge: tacky tacky tacky, naff as the brits would say and a complete lack of visual smarts.
In Europe they just use in-ground floodlights to throw shadows and highlight the architectural relief and features of good buildings.

[Baro]

I have no problem with the dollar store. It's ugly and yellow, who cares it's their shop and they'll paint it how they please. Heck the happy colour puts a smile on my face. If anyone told me what colour I could paint my house they'd have a fight on their hands. Any city that doesn't have a few buildings like this are just plain boring and sterile. I like it, some don't. It's subjective so let the owner decide.

Some people are just too picky and think their tastes are some objective truth, and if we let the majority opinion decide all our architecture we'll be stuck with **** like the Songhees. Architecture by committee. I know the dollar store is ugly, it's an ugly building. I think the yellow colour just embrases that uglyness and takes it to an almost comical extreme which in turn, for me, makes it worth a smile and a laugh. There's some absolutely objective ways we can determine if a building is good or not. The engineering, the space-use, the pedestrian friendliness (from a layout/setbacks perspective) and this site is great at assessing buildings from that point, but I notice some of us take our absolute "rightness" over issues like wanting to see zero-setbacks on storefronts and more density downtown and apply it to matters of taste. Yellow is an incorrect colour! Glass blocks are only for the 80's! Exposed concrete is wrong! It's fine to say that's just your taste on the matter, but to go so far as to say the city should "do something about it" reeks of the very sort of meddling nimbyism that's stangled our city for so long.

Or at least that's how I feel about it. I'd probably say the new dollar store was ugly if it wasn't for the huge backlash and demands for government action against it. I've become a defender of it simply in principle.

[Holden West]

I think the Rialto owners were hoping to use it as an extension of their hotel. That would have been great if they were able to rehab the old heritage buildings.

[VicBooster]

The owners of the Rialto did our city no favours with their poorly maintained hotel and infamous Dugout pub.

[martini]

The owners of the Rialto did our city no favours with their poorly maintained hotel and infamous Dugout pub.

For some reason I thought it was under new ownership. Thus getting rid of the Duggy, and name change?

[VicBooster]

That's right, it changed hands earlier in the decade but the owner has only recently begun making renos.