The Great Dollar Store Wars of 2013

When future historians regard the Saint John history annals, the year 2013 may just compare in significance to notable events such as the great fire of 1877 or the start of the Great War because the city and its residents has been thrust unwittingly into the marrow of a fierce battle for supremacy and survival between the warring Dollar Store Plus, located in Brunswick Square, and Your Dollar Store With More on Germain Street.

In an economy that has many retail shops struggling and having seen businesses close their doors, Saint Johnners are gaping with anxiety as someone has had the audacity to challenge the very  existence of a local icon, the mall-bound Dollar Store Plus.

The interloping Your Dollar Store With More has invaded the space once occupied by the venerable Appleby's Image Centre and has begun to buttonhole their way into the pervasive cheap-goods market so affluent uptown.

The tension has formed like a great wall of fog permeating the once hot (okay, somewhat warm)summer air as one tries to pass the streets laden with sandwich board signs directing the consumer this way and that.

To see the horror at its pinnacle, visit uptown Saint John on a cruise ship day to witness throngs of tormented tourists standing in confused agony trying to decide where to purchase those necessary made-in-China souvenirs of their trip to the Loyalist City and Canada.

For some, this has to be better than wrestling or MMA because, in the true spirit of dollar store wars, it's free to watch.  Stay tuned.