Third 'Rupee Store' opens in Chandigarh

After Vikas Nagar in Mauli Jagran and small flats in Maloya, Dhanas has opened its first rupee store, the third such store in the city of Chandigarh. The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has said that the store will promote the concept of the 3Rs — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — and provide low-cost goods to the underprivileged.

The store is said to stock items donated by residents to help needy people in the city.

The city's mayor, Anup Gupta, inaugurated the store in the presence of municipal commissioner Anindita Mitra, area councillor Ram Chander Yadav, and other prominent people.

On offer at the 1 Rupee Store are items such as dinnerware, bedsheets, women’s suits, men’s trousers and shirts, children's toys, books, household and office appliances, all for just Re 1 apiece.

In addition, after setting up temporary RRR centres in all 35 wards of the city, the MC has now started a permanent RRR centre at New Bridge Market, near Jagat Cinema, Sector 17, where citizens can bring reusable items to donate.

Mayor Anup Gupta said in a tweet, "Today inaugurated city's first '1 Rupee Store' in Maloya & Dhanas. The '1 Rupee Store' aims to provide items collected during 'Meri LiFE Mera Shehar campaign'. These items shall be available here at Re 1/-per piece. 1018 articles were sold in Maloya's store and 1454 articles were sold in Mauli Jagran's store. We got an overwhelming and huge response from the people of Chandigarh. These stores will help people who are in need and it will promote the principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle."

Single-price stores(also known as variety stores, dollar stores, pound shops), typically with a really low ticket price, are said to have originated in the late 19th century in the United States.

The first known store of this type was called the 5-cent Store and was opened by Frank Winfield Woolworth in Utica, New York, in 1879. Woolworth's — otherwise renowned for its fancy departmental stores — offered a range of products priced at just 5 cents in this store, which was a revolutionary concept at the time.