Zellers

Once upon a time (aka the 1980s), Zellers was a major player in the discount department store game in Canada. They were the Wal-Mart of their day, until, that is, Wal-Mart expanded into Canada. Nowadays, Zellers stores are like ghost towns, virtually devoid of customers and staff. You can still occasionally find some decent deals at Zellers, but good luck finding a cashier to sell you anything. You know the old service industry joke, "this job would be great if it weren't for the customers"? Well, if you happen to work at a Zellers store, then you're living the dream.

Rating: Dollar Daze%

(Image from dealcetera.com)

Treasures & Trash

Treasures & Trash is a pawn shop in Moncton, New Brunswick (1063 Mountain Road). On a recent trip to Treasures & Trash, I noticed that they had a freezer case near the door that was full of steaks. I'm not sure how it is that a pawn shop acquires a freezer case full of steaks or who, for that matter, would want to buy them. The quality of the goods available at Treasures & Trash, at least as far as what I saw on my last visit, is quite low. Also, the staff can be quite surly and are not above having heated arguments with people about what may or may not be stolen goods.

Rating: Dodgy%

(Image from kcmo.org)