variety store

American  

noun

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

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of variety store

An Americanism dating back to 1760–70

Example Sentences

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

Harry turned to the back cover of the book and saw the printed name of a variety store on Vauxhall Road, London.

From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling