orbisongirl: I am thinking of expanding into some of their food products, but I am not sure if they're any good. Has anyone ever tried condiments from the Dollar Tree?
Not condiments per se, but I've tried pasta, canned goods, boxed brownie mix, and soft drinks and snacks for parties. All of these were acceptable. At some of the bigger Dollar Tree stores, they even have a frozen-foods section; we bought 4-ounce packages of tilapia there, which works out to $4 a pound--definitely better than our supermarket--and it tasted fine in a fish taco.
One thing I forgot to mention was that dollar stores can also be great places to buy gifts for kids. Last weekend we went out to visit my in-laws, and I surprised my nephew and nieces (two to four years old) with dollar-store hats. The girls' hats were little white lacy things with ribbon flowers on them, and my nephew's was a sort of canvas safari-type hat (not sure how else to describe it) with an adjustable cord to hold it on. Surprisingly, he was the one who seemed to like his the best.
We've also picked up some little items that will make nice stocking stuffers this Christmas: colorful letters and numbers made out of foam board, foam beads and wooden blocks in a variety of shapes and colors, and rolls of stickers (all four of them love stickers). After all, I doubt children under five are going to care where their present came from or how much it cost, as long as it's fun.
