Dollar Scholar on Hawthorne = Awesome!
April 23, 2008
We open the door. We last about five seconds before we’re throwing fake rubber eggs as hard as we can against the storefront window and listening to co-owner Scott Corrie play a rubber chicken like a harmonica. Scott explains to us that, while we may not believe it, everything in the The Dollar Scholar really is $1 or less! Strange astrology and Dennis the Menace books from the 50’s, a perfectly good used North American road atlas, weird oozing squeeze balls, spatulas, toothbrushes, art supplies, etc. To steal a phrase from someone’s yelp review, this place is like “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse meets early-90’s Nickelodeon.” I don’t know if it was the pooping rubber chicken, the strange balloon in front of the store that blew into my head and almost gave me a heart attack or Scott’s wacky sound effects as he played with the toys, but I couldn’t help from feeling footloose and fancy free walking out of that store. So next time you’re wandering Hawthorne looking for something to do, stop in to The Dollar Scholar, where, as the sign says, ‘You LEARN to Save.’
The Dollar Scholar : 3279 SE Hawthorne Blvd : (503) 235-2222
* check out Portland Octopus’ exclusive video of Scott to your right as our Featured Video!
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My name is Scott Corrie, and i co-own The Dollar Scholar with Lydia Philis. In our store you can play with everything! We are a unique store. offering our neighborhood an affordable location to purchase items for $1, that would normally retail for as much as $10.00. From toys to tools, candles, party supplies, jewelery and jokes, we have a little bit of everything. in the year before opening, I researched where items were manufactured or imported. Most items retailing at $10.00 or less, in regular retail locations, are generally less then $1 in actual cost. A traditional dollar store will try to spend less than $0.50 an item, leaving their inventory worth the price it sells at. Our goal is to find regular items, sell them for $1.00 and still make a profit, staying away from closeouts or factory seconds.
Our main focus is to provide educators, child therapist, and special needs providers with as many items as with as many items as they can convey a need for. We also offer a 10% discount for these individuals, which accounts for nearly half our sales. We have teachers fro as far away as Croatia or England who us our store for their supplies. Many non-profit groups assisting the homeless in Portland use our store for basic needs (socks, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.). We try to stretch their purchasing power as far as possible.
There are no hired employees, lowering out overhead substantially. Over half of our inventory comes from customer request. We completely stay away from traditional “dollar store” vendors. Our vendors are required to credit us back for any damaged or defective items, leaving our inventory free from quality issues.
Since our opening on February 14th 2005, we have expanded our selections from 800 different items to nearly 4,000, with suppliers from every corner of the U.S. We even import directly from India, offering items for $1.00, where the cost to the consumer is generally as much as $20.00. More customers are referred to us every day, from both existing customers and other Portland businesses. A number of other stores buy products from us and resell them, helping keep our inventory fresh. There are no violent toys in our store, making it a safe location for special education students to have field trips. Our store sponsors The Hawthorne Treasure Hunt, held mid-April, inviting everyone to show up in pirate costumes, visit local merchants, and win prizes donated by participating businesses. This year we had about 800 pirates attending. Nearly two dozen businesses participated.
We began the Hawthorne Businesses Cooperative in 2005. the Co-Ops goal is to provide Hawthorne businesses, from Mt. Tabor to the Willamette River, a resources for group advertising. many event on Hawthorne have limited help available due to geographic constraint. Organizations servicing the area have boundaries they are not allowed to cross, leaving out many potential members. We try to incorporate every business in the area on Hawthorne, or not, in all local events. We do not believe our business district can be an island, so we look outside the normal boundaries to invite the network with all our surrounding communities.
feel free to contact me for an additional information.
Thank you,
Scott Corrie
Lydia Philips
The Dollar Scholars
Ph:503-235-2222
Fx:5032367476