US mom-and-pop stores take on the chains

New York

THE 99-cent store with the bright red awning cannot compete with the cutthroat pricing or huge selection at the two Dollar Tree outposts in its poor Brooklyn neighbourhood.

So it has found another way to lure customers: with the personalised service usually associated with luxury stores.

After one woman requested a reusable lint brush, it began stocking them for 99 cents. It saves items for customers until they can pay for them. It anticipates their needs with air conditioners in summer, heaters in winter and roses on Valentine's Day. And it even offers a self-serve coffee stand where they can linger.

"It's evolved beyond just being a 99-cent store," said Habib Abdul Musiwir, the manager of 99¢ & Up Millennium Discount & Party Supply in East New York, whose customers have gone to check out the Dollar Tree stores only to return. "We're meeting the needs of the community." Small family-owned dollar stores are under enormous pressure to hold onto customers and remain solvent as other bigger names such as Dollar Tree expand their footprint in New York City and elsewhere, a trend underscored by Dollar General's recent move to open stores in the city for the first time. Some independent stores have emphasised their neighbourhood roots, while others have raised prices or tweaked their inventories beyond party supplies and off-bran…