Portuguese Dollar Stores

Owned and Managed by Chinese Immigrants

What would you get if Woolworth’s, Ace Hardware, Michaels, TJ Max, and Dollar General had a baby? In virtually every city and town throughout Portugal, you would get the “Chinese Store”.

Oriente Perfeito in Cascais has everything!

The Chinese Store

The first time someone suggested I go to the Chinese store I was a bit taken aback. Was this the Portuguese form of anti-Asian sentiment? No. It is just the store always owned by Chinese immigrants that have virtually everything. If you need an inexpensive sewing kit (to fix a button) you would find it there for 1€ or less. If you need party favors, an extension cord, socks, a lamp, aluminum foil, whatever … they have it.

Bought too many souvenirs…need another bag?

Every Town

Clearly, we have not (yet) visited every town in Portugal…but we can report that every town we have visited so far has a Chinese Store. The one in Cascais is among the largest … with a furniture department no less.

The kitchen department.

The items are always inexpensive! Cheaper than you can find anywhere else. Sometimes the price reflects the quality. (For example, 3 or the 5 needles in the sewing kit I purchased did not have “eyes”, i.e. a hole for the thread.) But in some cases, the items are name brands that you would recognize. For example, in the kitchen section we found Pyrex casseroles … just cheaper than at Continente or Auchan.

Denise in the party section.

The aisles are typically fairly close together and always fully stocked. They may not carry the same items all the time (think Tuesday Morning), but what they have … they have in large quantities.

Denise and I spent about 30 minutes familiarizing ourselves with the store in Cascais. No, we were not planning a party but figured it just made sense to take a look. There were many times when we first arrived, we didn’t know which store might have an item we needed “in a pinch”. Chances are we could have found it in one of these stores.

The electrical section took up 3 aisles.

Of course, no Portuguese house has enough electrical outlets. So you can get the requisite outlet extenders at the Chinese store. Unfortunately, unlike Ace Hardware, there isn’t anyone in a red vest helping you find what you need.

Why?

I tried to research the origin of these stores. I learned that the Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares was the first European to reach China, arriving in 1513. Trading activities were started just a few years later but Portugal’s relationship with China has had some ups and downs. Things seemed to improve when Portugal “returned” Macau to China's control in 1999. Since that time, China has made major investments in Portugal and in fact is now the main foreign investor in Portugal with stakes in Portugal’s national electricity grid, Portugal’s biggest oil company (Galp), and Energias de Portugal (EDP) a major electric utility.

Portuguese decolonisation brought about a certain amount of Chinese immigration in the 70s and 80s, but a far greater number of immigrants have arrived from mainland China, particularly the Shanghai area, in the last few years…Most Chinese-owned firms here are family enterprises. Their suppliers are mostly Chinese and Chinese products are readily available to them.  - Algarve News Watch

When Denise and I traveled to China, 5 years ago, I came away wondering if any other country could keep up. The economy was buzzing and their authoritative government was, unfortunately, quite efficient. (I recall a conversation with a woman that was forced to leave her ancestral home when they flooded the river. “They told me I would be moving up the hill on Tuesday. I had no choice. But the new apartment has a toilet.”) When I read, in 2017, about the One Belt, One Road initiative I was (and am) concerned about the consequences.

Countries with cooperative agreements with the initiative.

But, I didn’t intend this to become a post about geo-politics. If you know more about these stores or have experience with them, please leave a comment below.