The Buck or Two Plus on Pine Street quietly reopened this week with a new set of owners who believe that having a dollar store is essential to the local community.
“I feel like it’s just a good business for everybody,” says owner Keirstyn Gendron, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “We looked at a couple of different business ventures but to open a dollar store you just reach local, regular people. You serve the entire community, everybody shops at the dollar store.”
Gendron, who together with her husband Matthew also owns landscape supply company Golden Gardens, almost ended up opening a Buck or Two Plus in Welland.
“It’s been about four years of deciding to do it or not,” she says. “Then we started with the Welland one and I wasn’t happy because I am from Thorold. Luck would have it that two days before we signed paperwork the Thorold one became available. As a local of Thorold, I had to scoop it up.”
The Buck or Two Plus offers a variety of things, from kitchenware to party supplies, and everything in between.
“We’re trying to have a little bit of everything so people don’t have to go into St. Catharines for little things that they need,” says Gendron. “We want to be convenient for everybody.”
A big opening party is planned for May 14, but Gendron decided to open the store this week.
“We didn’t know an exact opening date because we had to do a lot of work,” she says. “We rearranged the store, we moved the desk, different aisles everywhere, and I kind of took a look around on Friday and said: ‘You know what? I feel like we have enough stock in that we can open. Let’s try it.’ On Monday we opened the doors and we’ve been so steady.”
With current supply chain issues and subsequent inflation, the era when dollar stores offered items at exactly one dollar seems long gone. Gendron thinks that when it comes to pricing, it’s all about serving the community.
“It’s not about the pricing, it’s about the value of the product,” she says. “We have the flexibility to control the prices but for me it’s not about keeping the prices a buck or two, it’s about valuing the product. If the product is only worth two dollars, I’m only going to charge two dollars. You have to know your community.”
Owning a business in the plaza on Pine Street is a special milestone for Gendron.
“My parents lived just behind the high school so I lived two minutes away from this plaza,” Gendron says. “I’m 30 years old so a lot of people don’t think that I’m the owner. I’m just ambitious, that’s all. But I never thought I would own one local business, let alone two. I’m really happy to be able to say that I’m born and raised in Thorold and that I can support my community.”
