New Santa Rosa store aims to beat back inflation with ever-dropping prices
SANTA ROSA – It seems like things are quickly becoming more and more expensive. But a new store in Santa Rosa is offering an unusual business model where items get cheaper each day, turning inflation upside down.
The store, called "Falling Prices," is a bargain-hunter's paradise with a twist. On Tuesday morning there, were no spaces left in the entire shopping center's parking lot and inside, people jammed the store.
"You get the name, right? So, every day prices drop," said store manager Samuel Pierce.
The store opens on Tuesdays with every item priced at $6. On Wednesday, everything drops to $4 and on Thursdays, prices drop even further to $2.
Prices drop down to $1 on Fridays and on Saturday, everything left in the store is just 25 cents.
"And then we do a restocking and then everything will be new on Tuesday when they come in," said Pierce. "It starts all over again. Let the bargains begin, right?"
"And then we do a restocking and then everything will be new on Tuesday when they come in," Pierce told KPIX 5. "It starts all over again. Let the bargains begin, right?"
Merchandise is all brand new and comes as overstock from Amazon and Target warehouses. But it's all stuffed randomly in large wooden bins, so shopping becomes a journey of discovery, from snowboards, to olive oil, to a UPS uniform for your dog.
"We like to think of it as Christmas," said Pierce, "because everything is completely random. You never know what you're going to come into."
"It's overwhelming," shopper Barbara McFarland said as she stood back, shaking her head. "It could be a full-time job just shopping here, you know?"
Jacob Cobb agreed. He was at the store last Friday for "dollar day" but came back Tuesday to see the new stuff.
"It's somewhat, I would say, addicting coming here," he said, "because you want to come back every other day to see if there's going to be better deals, you know?"
While people may be picky on Tuesday, when the price starts falling, suddenly that bag of plastic eyeballs starts looking pretty good.
"There's a lot of things I'd pay a dollar for, so I'm going to come back again on Friday and see what's left," said Elisa Roman.
"I'm kind of hiding the stuff that I want," she went on to say, laughing.
In the end, it was all too much for McFarland, who decided to leave empty handed on Tuesday.
"I saw some good things here, but I think everybody's caught up in a frenzy, I really do. I mean, just look over here!" she told KPIX 5. "I'm not ready! I'm not ready to shop yet!"
The Santa Rosa store opened last week and is part of a small chain headquartered in Sacramento.
Falling Prices sells items with a normal retail price under $50, but more expensive products, like TV's and furniture, are sold through an online auction called BidRL.com, similar to eBay, where the bidding for all items starts at $1.
