Bay Ridge has more than its fair share of discount stores. I can think of three offhand within a couple of blocks of our apartment.
Most stick to the tried-and-true 99 cent motif, but a lot of them sell items for -- gasp -- up to several dollars. My favorite discount store is the nearby Shady Market.
The sign (and, as far as I know) the name are new. Paul and I had a good-natured laugh when we saw it. The owners don't speak English as a native language, and we wonder if they understand the double meaning of the word "shady." In any case, the woman at the cash register is anything but the more sinister meaning of the word -- she's always very friendly when I pick up some sandwich baggies or an umbrella or two.
In fact, she made me feel pretty good a couple of weeks ago. I had just come from a bodega and had placed my bags of groceries on the ground while I fumbled in my purse for some cash. The woman, from Morocco, spied some couscous in my bag and rewarded me with a huge smile.
"You like couscous?" she asked, astonished. She told me that I'm the first non-Arabian she's met that eats it.
I like to think that I'm more open to foreign foods since moving to New York, and I probably am. But couscous? I started eating that in Columbus.
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