Common Values Emporium

This is a favorite spot of mine to stop in with my dog to pick up treats. The store is very pet friendly and my dog is always greeted by the super friendly staff with smiles and a treat. The store has a wide variety of items. Much of the merchandise is similar to what you would find at a dollar store. There is also a great selection of pet supplies. They also sell items made by local merchants, such as soaps, jewellery, hula hoops, and other handmade goods.
The store functions as an employment training service that helps the staff develop job skills and continue on to find other employment in the community. It’s been a great addition to the community.
One thing I will note is there is a display of essential oils that are wildly overpriced in my opinion. For example, the essential peppermint oil was $ 34 and I found a bottle of the same amount and quality elsewhere for only $ 8.
ETA: This store has moved to Dartmouth and I have not had occasion to visit the new store.

this is a weird and somewhat confusing place on first visit.
it is 85% dollar store, 10% pet supply store, 5% gift store. full of funny oddities but also suppliers of upmarket Acana dog food and impossible-​to-​find-​in-​the-​city $ 3.50 bags of timothy hay for bunnies and guinea pigs, straight off the farm.
as Jill M said, it is staffed by people with special needs, receiving specialized job training. I’ll be happy to support them more in the future.

I just stopped in at the Common Values Emporium, just North of the Commons, and now I need to tell everyone about it.
OK — what is it? It’s a general store. There are a lot of items you would get at any dollar store, plus many very cool extras like pet items, gifts, kids’ stuff and home décor items.
But there’s much more to this place than what it sells. It’s run by people with special needs, and the purpose of the store is to give training to those who have difficulty finding a job. And I think that’s really cool. (Here is some more info on that:
)
So I popped in today, picked up a few Christmas items and some basics like blank envelopes that I’ve been needing. The prices were great, the service was fantastic, and it’s conveniently related in my neighborhood. I think this is really, really cool and the central location means many people in Halifax can support it. Please do!