I’m totally fascinated by the 99 cent stores in the U.S. They sell junk but their displays are true works of art with a strong hypnotic feel…

really? i haven’t been to a 99 cent store in the u.s. in ages but it’s so cool to find art in unexpected places like that.

wow 99 cents, that cheap, with the actual exchange rate that like 0.002 euros!
C’est trop injuste! tout est si cher ici!

oh calimero. you’re right, the exchange rate is abysmal. eh oui, c trop injuste.

It’s true that the exchange rate is a killer if you make your living in monkey money (USD), like I do. And yet, when you compare price and quality, you get a better deal in France. In the States, there’s a lot of cheap, badly designed, industrially produced junk. If you want quality, originality or simply flavor, it costs a lot and it’s not so widely available.

I always know I’m back in France when I stand frozen like a retarded in the stores, whether it’s the cheese counter at Monoprix, the displays at the market, or the Galeries Lafayette: there’s so much beauty and choice that I don’t even know where to start, my yankee brain goes into over-drive and I time out.

As fo the 99 cent stores, I never buy anything there, and the customer demographics are rather deprerssing, but the window displays are a treat (example: http://tinyurl.com/jhjv8).

cool framed photo! and i know what you mean about the choices. it sometimes takes me FOREVER to shop because i wanna look at everything. or if i need to choose, i can’t because there are too many choices.