Lee Hanna’s Greenback Dollar, which opened on the corner of Liberty and Stadium in 2001, should be moved into its new home around the corner on Stadium, next to Dimo’s Deli and Donuts, by the end of March.
Dollar stores do not normally develop a devoted clientele, but this one has a following. “More than one customer has offered to bring a truck to help us move,” says Hanna, the younger of the two men who staff the store. The older gentleman, often at the register, is Isaac Koja, “a relative–well, he’s a third or fourth cousin. We still call our third or fourth cousins relatives,” says Hanna, a Chaldean American.
“It’s our favorite dollar store. It’s a friendly place,” says Carol Smith. She and husband, Dean, began listing the things they buy there. For her, it’s “greeting cards, stocking stuffers, envelopes, all kinds of paper products, plastic tableware. And fuzzy socks–oh, they were the best fuzzy socks.” Dean says, “I always buy reading glasses there. And batteries, mothballs, floor mats for the car, all kinds of brooms.”
He sighs, “Now everyone is going to know how cheap we are.”
The new space is smaller, but Hanna promises that he’ll have 90 percent of the old merchandise–just less of it.
Greenback is vacating so GFS can knock out a wall and join the space to the former CVS store. This will be the second GFS (Gordon Food Services) outlet in town.
Greenback Dollar, 2026 W. Stadium, 662-0050. Mon.-Sat. 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.