If you don?t know, now you know! This little (actually big) Native New Yorker secret in the heart of midtown is like a mega 99 cent store and grocery store combined. 99 cent stores are like New Yorker?s version of Walmart, except you never know what they will have at Jack?s (they often have leftovers from pricier stores, super-discounted), and they tend to, other than random leftovers, exclusively carry no-name product lines. I know the Jack?s store on 32nd St. has two floors- by far the biggest 99 cent store I?ve been to. Jack?s offers much-needed bargains in Manhattan, where grocers tend to price gouge and exploit the fact that shoppers don?t have cars, and have little choice on foot (Jack?s actually has three locations through-out Midtown Manhattan). There are also very few 99 cent stores in Manhattan compared to Brooklyn, where there?s seemingly one on every corner, and the ones that do exist there tend to be clustered by the housing projects that line the rivers on the east/west sides of the island.
The downside? The place can get pretty crowded and chaotic, and could stand much more uniform organization. Much of the food (which includes frozen) is single serving and of the snack/junkier/high-carb variety. You?ll probably buy a few things you don?t need just because it?s cheap and forget (or lack the will) to return it- but, hey, then again it?s 99 cents? what do you have to lose? You can always donate the stuff to a friend or charity.
Like many 99 cent and general stores, not everything is 99 cents? they have lighting/lamps, house wares, and hardware departments where items tend to run more like $10 and up (still a steal!), and recession induced inflation has caused many products to drift up to $1.19 or more. Like most 99 cent stores, they offer beauty/hair accessories, toiletries (avoid toothpastes made in China!), bath supplies, cosmetics, stationary, hardware, seasonal, cleaning supplies, sewing notions, hosiery, glassware, hardware, home goods, cheap apparel, giftware, toys and electronics.
Another thing one has to realize about 99 cent stores is that they all have their specialties, niches, and preferred product lines- what one cannot find at one store, one might find at another.
Where Jack?s stands out is with their pet, luggage, wedding and baby departments (again, if you?re concerned about poisoning, be careful with anything that baby sucks on that is made in China? but then again, isn?t everything everywhere made in China?).
My favorite way of saving at these shops is buying the 3 for $1 bath/body soaps (a huge discount compared to grocery/drug stores, although for the face I require more expensive moisturizing soap, like Dove, which runs $1 a bar (and you can find Dove at Jack?s too!), cheap, yet tasteful 99 cent body sprays/perfumes (in every flavor!), and body and hand lotions. What?s funny about 99 cent store soaps and lotions is they often come in more fragrant and exotic varieties than what you can get in the drugstore; mint, cocoa butter, rose, imitation Irish Springish, peach and every other fruit under the sun, etc, and are great as long as you don?t mind the fact that they often (although not always) are made in Turkey or Asia. And when they are that cheap, why get just one? What not have one in every scent to suit your mood and the season?
My strategy for saving with these places is to go in with a list of the odds and ends I need, load up on soap/perfumes each time I go (because I don?t want to go to these hellholes often- hey, I?m not in it for the ambiance, but think about how often you use soap), and buy about $40 worth of stuff. That way I only wind up going about 4 times per year.
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