Cost Plus has been a lifesaver for me during my time here in Las Vegas. I can still remember my first visit well (cue the blurry, squiggly lines and flashback music). My wife and I stepped into the store and were surprised to discover it filled with all sorts of strange knick-knacks, plates, wind chimes, furniture. It was like some sort of Ikea meets a middle eastern bazaar. Ialmost walked straight out in bewilderment, but my wife somehow managed to drag me in and we made it toward the back of the store and discovered the edible goodies from around the world and, most importantly, from Australia. I was absolutely thrilled to discover that Cost Plus carries Australian "Bundaberg Ginger Beer" -- a product and brand ubiquitous in Australia -- complete in its brown glass "stubby" bottles. The label is a little different than what I was used to, featuring a kangaroo, presumably as the most recognisable global signifier screaming "Australia" to Americans, instead of some guy kegging-up brewed drinks, but the taste is the same. Today, my wife (an American convert to the ways of Bundaberg) and I can't drive down Blue Diamond without a stop in to Cost Plus for fresh supplies of Bundaberg. You'll also find Cadbury's chocolate (the real stuff, not the abominable version made by Hershey's that you'll find in supermarket chains), biscuits (that's Commonwealth-speak for "cookies") from around the globe, an assortment of imported wines, international delights such as Vegemite and Marmite, curry sauces, salsas, crackers, and more. What prevents such a treasure trove of great memories from home and new international experiences scoring the perfect five stars? Well, firstly, ninety percent of the store is the aforementioned non-edible odds and ends from around the world. Fine, they are international goods - but stuff like this is imported all the time and I've seen it all before. A plate or some knives and forms, or a chair is the same wherever it's from. The other problem is that Cost Plus, in addition to carrying some wonderful stuff that you just can't find elsewhere, tends to pad its shelves with items that are already generally available in the US at grossly inflated prices. I'm sorry guys, but Patak's Curry Sauces aren't exotic and tough to find anymore. My local supermarket sells them. Darrel Lea Licorice (from my home city of Perth, Australia) at $4.00 a bag is too much to pay when target and Glaziers have it at a fraction of that price. Ok, so perhaps somewhere in the wilds of Wisconsin some of these things aren't generally available, but the store could easily adapt to suit each marketplace, surely? I can accept that while the homegoods dominance of this store is one of their main drives -- something I will have to live with and accept as "just not my bag", but when it comes to the food, I would love to see the available-elsewhere-for-much-less chaff cut out so some more excitingly tough to find goodies can fill the resulting free space.
Choose: was this review given positively or negatively?
pick from the following. (A). negative (B). positive
(B).