Freetown’s dollar store

On the densely crowded Kissy Road in the eastern part of Freetown, there’s a shop where the service is terrible and the prices never change. It’s the city’s very own dollar store where everything is sold at 4,000 leones (one US dollar is about 3,900 leones by the current conversion rate).

I am a self confessed supermarket addict but not the classy stuff. No, leave me unattended for 10 minutes and I’ll return with a cart full of random crap I’ll never use. The most useless thing I can remember buying at the 99 Pence store in London was a veiled hat with a giant bumble bee stuck on it (I later donated it to my flat mate for her Halloween costume). Oh yeah, there was also that singing donkey.

So when I drove by Saad M. Raslan Co. and saw the 4,000 leones sign, I almost floated in. Inside the racks of colourful paper cups, hideous umbrellas and all things plasticky were protected by grills. Steal from a dollar store? Really? I think thieves have better taste.

This one, I have to admit, didn’t do it for me. Maybe it didn’t have enough ‘Made in China’ junk to hold my attention. Also, the manager was rude and wouldn’t let me shoot in the store. Guess who’s not getting my dollar…