variety store

American  

noun

1. a retail store, as a five-and-ten, carrying a large variety of goods, especially low-priced articles.

---

variety store Idioms  

1. A retail shop that carries a large selection of usually inexpensive merchandise, as in What this town needs is a good variety store. [Second half of 1700s]

---

Etymology

Origin of variety store

An Americanism dating back to 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

variety store

That was 2019, nearly a decade after entrepreneur Wang Ning opened Pop Mart as a variety store, similar to a pound shop, in Beijing.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2025

He was accused of passing a TSA screening checkpoint, entering a boarding gate concourse and taking a pair of sunglasses from a variety store before he was arrested.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 16, 2022

The 69-year-old, who owns Discoteca y Novedades Tierra Caliente, a variety store in Huntington Park, has managed to not get infected this whole time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2022

We had no money, so at the variety store, rather than spend the 25-cent retail, he would buy paperbacks with their covers ripped off for a nickel.

From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2021

They parked on a side street, then wandered about until a suitably crowded variety store presented itself.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote