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GREENSBORO - In the aisles of his discount party supply store, Ben McKee III would hear customers mutter their next destination under their breath.

"We're going to go to the dollar store," they'd say after checking out the sticker price on his merchandise.

After hearing the refrain repeated time and again, McKee made a decision. "I told my wife the next store would be a dollar store," he said. "Unless you've stolen it, it doesn't get any cheaper."

McKee kept his word, opening the Dollar Shoppe on the ground level of Four Seasons Town Centre last month. With the slumping economy, his timing couldn't have been better, as more consumers are turning to bargain discounters as they search for ways to stretch their paychecks further.

"All races and all incomes come in here," McKee said, "and they're all looking for deals."

Dollar stores bring in plenty at their namesakes. Virginia-based Dollar Tree reported more than $1 billion in sales in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 12.5 percent compared with the same time last year.

"Our stores are more relevant than ever for the times, providing extreme value every day on products that customers want and need," said Bob Sasser, the company's president and CEO, in a news release. "The sales increase was driven primarily by food, health and beauty care, party supplies and household consumables."

Although not a dedicated dollar store, Dollar General is a bargain retailer that also experienced a jump in business with the slow economy. During the first quarter, the Tennessee-based retailer saw its sales increase $120 million - from $2.28 billion to $2.4 billion - and had its CEO echoing similar economic trends to explain why.

"We believe we are benefiting from current economic conditions which are encouraging customers to seek shopping alternatives that offer quality products at everyday low prices," Rick Dreiling, Dollar General's top executive said in a release.

McKee is entering the field as a mom-and-pop shop, not a public company with corporate influence enjoyed by bargain giants. His lucky break has been the vendor contacts he made in previous endeavors.

Still, he's learned to request a full description of items from potential vendors; having a picture of the item is even better. That prevents mishaps such as the one that happened when he thought he placed an order for lights - and ended up with an assortment of flower bulbs.

His challenge has been finding the balance between price and quality. "We want to have a dollar store and not have junk," he said. "It's a fine line."

McKee knows there is money to be made in the dollar store demographic. "You have to do a lot of sales," he said. "In this industry, you get good deals by buying in bulk."

And good deals will draw customers such as Jeanette Wade, who browsed the Dollar Shoppe last week while visiting from Roanoke, Va.

She's a regular at dollar stores, she said. "It saves people money."

Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lanita.withers@news-record.com