99p store

I popped in here last weekend on advise from my girlfriend. I had forgotten my sunglasses and didn’t want to pay the earth for a temporary replacement pair. Sure enough, the 99p store was able to help. I certainly didn’t have a pick of designer frames, but they had the UV protection certification and did the job.
The rest of the shop seemed to be a smaller version of a Wall mart in the USA. The staff seemed suicidal, the clientele looked likewise beaten down. I doubt I would have thought to walk through the doors if it wasn’t for the suggestion and on being inside, doubt I would again. Yeah, you can get items for stupidly cheap prices, but you are very unlikely to be buying quality produce.
I guess if you need something generic like a bucket or toilet roll, you may as well save some cash and buy it from a store like this. Even by discount store standards, this place feels pretty budget.

99p stores are a bit of a Brighton malaise: there are far too many than anyone would deem necessary. In London Road’s case, there are between 5 – 10 at any given time, with a seemingly high amount of turnover, and it begs the question: what is the point? None of these places stock anything too different from each other, so why do you need more than one?
This particular 99p store seems, if possible, one of the cheaper versions of this kind of store. The shelves are never that fully stocked, nor is there much on display. If you have to go to a 99p store, than one thing you’re hoping for is large selection: even that seems to have been skimped on here.
There isn’t really much to say here, and I can’t believe I’m actually using this phrase, but there are better 99p stores than this one. Some are even next door! If you do need some very cheap items, obviously 99p stores are a good place to start, but this one is at the lower end of what these places have to offer. In an area overflowing with this type of shop, there are many slightly better options: go for one of them.

This type of shop is unfortunately perfectly at home in London Road. The 99p store joins the ever growing population of discount stores in the area that also includes the likes of ‘Poundsense’ and ‘Poundstretcher’.
I’m not a huge fan of this place, especially as it comes at the cost of local business. If you are a regular user of stores like ‘Poundland’ then this shop is right up your alley; they have a very similar product range, stocking everything from perfume to breakfast cereal.
I mainly come here for the energy drinks (4 for 99p). I would say that if you’re looking for bargains, 99p store has a few, although so do all of the other nearby stores and so too does Sainsbury with the basics range of products.

What do you expect for a pound? Well, I didn’t expect 9 bags of McCoys crisps for a pound, and still with a good couple of weeks left before the expiration of the sell by date. But when you think about how far expiry dates are set into the future, how long have these crisps been around for? Cleaning products, tacky Christmas decorations and afore mentioned snacks are all you can get away with buying from here. Anything else will most likely dissolve in your hands before you get them home.